Broken Brothers
by sora kazega
Summary: They were brothers by blood, twins to be exact. Yet acting like they were faint aquintences that met from time to time, and in a sense this was true. Where had that family feeling gone that had been there in their younger years,a question often pondered.
1. Prologue: His worst

**AN: I hate to dissapoint you but i do not own Harry Potter, never will.**

**Now I love the Potter twin story line, and as such i have been wanting to write one! I enjoyed writing this chapter and it is as of yet my longest chapter out there! Well read on, Enjoy!**

Godrics Hollow 31st of October 1981

It was on this cold and festive Halloween night that the greatest recent magical Historical deed would take place. It would take place in Godrics hollow, a nice little village somewhere in England. The houses were all made of white wood, lights inside giving off an ethereal glow. It was 9´o clock when the pitter patter of the rain started. The big crack was heard by no one. Whereas there was nobody occupying that space at first, now there was. This man was hooded in a black cloak, hiding all of his face except his ruby red eyes. These ruby red eyes held a maniacal gleam signifying the yearning for causing harm and chaos. This man was none other than the current dark lord, Lord Voldemort. He started moving, cloak swishing behind him. He walked until he stood in front of an open patch of land, occupied only by a remnant of what used to be a house. He smiled crookedly and whispered ` Godrics hollow number 7´ and suddenly like _magic_ the empty space was occupied by an also festive house. This time the man sneered, it had all been so simple! He waved his wand around and erected the anti portkey and apparition wards. The maniacal gleam in his eyes intensified! He loved it, this feeling of power, having the knowledge that they could not escape! He again slowly walked up to the front door and blew it off its hinges. Time to start the show!

James Potter- important auror ,Rebel fighter for the order of the phoenix and young father- was reading the daily prophet while sitting next to his lovely wife. His Wife nudged him in his side and said: `Look!`

He lowered his news paper and set his eyes on his sons. The Potter boys were playing while happily gurgling, but eyes slowly drooping, showing that they were tiring. The redheaded boy with hazel eyes, those of his father, was called Charles Nicolas Potter. His Fraternal twin was named Harry James Potter. He was the exact opposite; he had Jet-black hair just like his dad and the sparkling green eyes that belonged to his mother. The potter boys were born on 31st of July. Charles came first and not soon after came Harry. Charles was more energetic than his brother, and always had been. Harry was still a happy child, one of many smiles just not as energetic as his counterpart. It was while this happy family scene was taking place that the night took a turn for the worse. The door shot off its hinges and slammed into the opposite wall with a bang. There in the pouring rain stood a cloaked man with eyes the color of blood. James' and Lilly's blood ran cold: Peter had betrayed them and now the dark Lord stood at their thresh hold. "Go, Lilly! Take the kids to safety! Now! Go, I'll hold him off!" Lilly followed his words without a thought, picked up her sons and ran up the stairs and giving one last and desperate glance at her husband.

James Potter Stood ready, wand pointed at the man that had caused the wizarding world so much pain and misery in the last 15 years. The man that had killed and broken family's apart , without a second thought, like he would now to HIS family. James however had other thoughts, he would stop this man, no _creature_ from ever harming his Family! He would do anything to protect them! And valiantly James Potter fought but it was all for naught, Lord Voldemort was not for nothing the strongest and darkest wizard of the age. He fell down, leg having been hit with one nasty bone braking curse and one arm hanging limply to is side. "It is hard for me to find an entertaining opponent who can put my true skills to some use. You should be proud, Potter that you have that on your name when you die, but now you have had your use!" Voldemort raised his wand in for the kill, but stopped and suddenly smiled cruelly. "Yes, yes, that is what I will do!" and so James came to relive the worst of his nightmares over and over again, courtesy of a certain dark lord. He would kill that man later after he had killed the rest and maliciously showed it the man! The dark lord moved on up the stairs until he stood in front of the children's room. The door had all sorts of ornate animals and stars on it, he frowned and blew the intricate design to bits and pieces, to his own glee. There stood the woman, the red head that had foiled his plans thrice! She would die here tonight, of that he was sure, but his main task would come first.

Lily turned around, eyes wide with terror as the door exploded into bits and pieces revealing her worst nightmare. She had heard James screams echoing through the house, as if there had been no walls at all. The screams had then gotten weaker until she heard no more. She feared the worst, and had tears to show how she felt. Her eyes however looked over at the two boys who were now wide-awake, watching the man in the doorway fearfully. In the corner another crib stood in which lay Violet, their daughter of some four months old, oblivious to all that was going on due to the potion that should prevent her from having Dragon Pox. That is when she promised herself, she would protect them, her children, with all her might and resolutely she turned to face the monster that had destroyed so many. Protecting she stood in front of the crib and said in a trembling voice: "Spare them! Take me instead! Please, spare them!"

The ruby eyes found her, they held a sick pleasure and loads of disdain and in a cold voice he answered: "Move aside girl, I will spare you! Now move!" But move Lilly did not and again she spoke brokenly, tears still flowing:" Please, Please take me! Leave them Alone!"

Voldmort had had enough of this woman's babbles and with of a flick of wand he slammed her into the wall with a sickening crunch. Lilly slid down, hair pooling aroung her like blood. Her last thoughts were: " I'm sorry Charles! Harry! Violet!"

He would take pleasure in killing this mudblood wench but now onto the main dish of tonighgt! The children had started balling as soon as their mother had been sent flying and it was immensely grating on his nerves! He looked at them, the red-one was balling his eyes out, while the black one was silently crying. Those green eyes, the color of the spell he was going to use to kill them, how ironic! One of them was supposed to _stop HIM? _He sneered down at them and said: "Do not worry, you will be joined by your parents soon enough. "Avada Kadavra! Avada Kadavra!" Almost simultaneously the bright green jets of light shot off to reach their targets. The one for Harry happened to hit first, and that is when it happened. It hit the boy, he was sure that it had, yet here he saw his two spell coming to him at a blinding speed! Unable to dodge the spells at such close range the fatal jets of light hit its user and with an unholy scream Voldmorts body exploded.

The dark magic that the explosion let out immediately set fire to the house. The whole house creaked and wood rained down from the broken and burning support beams. One such form was of a star and it fell right onto Charles 'cheek, leaving a mark there forever and making the older boy cry out in anguish and pain. While this was happening his younger counter part lay knocked out, blood dripping from his forehead where a small lightning scar had decided to take its residence.

Albus Dumbledore prided himself to be a man of great intelligence and a big heart as well. Yet, he could not have predicted how this night would go. He was sitting in his office enjoying a good book while Fawkes was humming a tune, taking is mind of the war for just a moment. That moment couldn't have lasted long enough because it was suddenly disturbed by a high-pitched alarm sound going off. He dropped his book and ran his shelves and looked at the instrument that was making this sound and his heart sank, the Potters! He immediately assumed the worst and bellowed: "Fawkes!" His trusty familiar came immediately t his side and with a flash they were gone only to arrive at Godrics hollow.

What he found confirmed his worst fears, the house was blazing and reeked of dark magic. Only one individual could have caused that and that was his onetime wayward student. He immediately ran towards the house that was now revealed to all and put up a muggle repellant, he would not want them to find out as of just yet. He then proceeded to enter the house that had once been so festive. Inside the house the presence of dark magic took a significant increase, and there, blood on his face lay James. Dumbledore walked to the presumably dead man with a heavy heart, he had always enjoyed the young mans company. It is when he felt the man's wrist however when his old heart skipped a beat, James was alive!

It was then that Dumbeldore took upon himself the task of removing the immensely dark curse that had been put on to his once time pupil. It took him 5 minutes to find out which curse it was and 3 more to remove it.

Hazel brown eyes opened slowly and looked around and they were bewildered at what he was seeing. He was alive, alive! That had all just been a dream, Peter hadn't betrayed them and they were all happy together! It was however after a few more seconds that he suddenly realized that the air was heavy with dark magic and filled with the smell of burning wood. His heart felt heavy at that realization, it had not been a dream and Voldemort had really entered his house. Lilly! The boys! Violet! He was about to stand up hastily when an old wrinkled hand found its way to his shoulder and he came to see the relieved face of Albus Dumbledore. "James, wait I have to heal your leg and Arm." said Dumbledore in calm voice while doing the aforementioned deeds. "Thank you Professor, let's go on." Rasped james, his throat raw from screaming.

And go on up the two men did in an oppressing silence both with minds on this horrible night. When they finally got up above they saw that the room door was blasted apart. They took another step when over the roaring of the fire they heard the cries of a baby. James took off without a moment's thought and barged through the flames. What he found there however put his heart to a stop, what he had been reliving the last half an hour had just become a reality! "Lilly! No not Lilly!" James ran over to his wife while Dumbledore entered the room, having doused the flames, and surveyed the sad scene. The room reeked of dark magic, at its purist form. It saddened his heart that this is what his former star pupil had caused. His heart however became lighter when a happy shout broke free from the black haired youth; "Albus she's alive, oh sweet Merlin! Enevrate!" The spell took effect and this was how James found himself staring into the smoldering green eyes that he so loved.

Green eyes met Hazel ones and with a start Lilly recognized them! "James!" she sobbed while throwing her arms around him. "I was so scared, James, So Scared! I thougth.. I thought that I had lost you! It was horrible, oh James! "

"It's alright darling, were going to be alright! I thought I had lost you too! Oh Thank Merlin!"

With a start Lilly remembered where they were. " Harry, Charles! Violet!"

Each young parents ran up to a crib, avoiding all the debris that littered the house. Lilly went to the crib that held the boys, while James went to the one that held Violet and shouted his glee when he found her alive, and still under the effects of the potion. He gave the child to Dumbledore.

Lilly had meanwhile come to the crib she had defended not long before. There crying and bawling his eyes out lay their eldest with a red star still burning hot on his face. "Charles", Lilly cried out in relief and grabbed the little redhead. "Thank Merlin!" said James. "It's going to be all right dear it's going to be alright." she cooed to the baby boy. Slowly but surely the boy's crying slowed until his hazel eyes closed, sleep claiming him. Slowly and unsure the young parents looked for their second son and after a few seconds they zeroed in on the body of the boy. There at the back of the crib lay the small and black-headed boy, motionless and blood dripping from his head. The relief that had flooded them so when they found Charles and Violet was washed away.

"No, no, no! Not harry!" she whispered hot tears already brewing in her eyes. She gave her eldest to James and ran over to her other son, her husband following because had given Charles to Dumbledore just like he had done with Violet a moment ago. They came to that end of the crib and slowly Lilly reached in the crib to take her son. He lay still in her arms, forehead bleeding. She suddenly felt a small and faint heartbeat and the tears that had been brewing now fell fast, sobs racking her whole body.

James took it the wrong way and managed to choke out: "Why Harry!" Lilly however turned showing a small smile gracing her tearstained face and whispered to James: "He's alive dear! Our Harry isn't dead!" And then she went on crying onto him while he held them, tears leaking out of his eyes.

Dumbledore surveyed the scene with a smile and couldn't help but thank all the deities out there for giving the Potters this Miracle. He looked down at the children in his arms. More specifically the small boy, he looked at the star-shaped scar/burn that was on the boy's left cheek. It reeked of dark magic, strong dark magic. That was no ordinary scar, but a curse scar. "_the one marked at his equal_" it echoed through the wizards mind. He walked closer to the young pair and looked at the wound the other boy had endured. The blood that poured out signified that is was a flesh wound but the dark magic that resided around it put his assumptions into place.

"James, Lilly I have something important to say. Lord Voldemort is no longer with us. (_ "not in body, no" he thought) _It is due to something, no rather someone. I have to say that it is miraculous, miraculous indeed."

"What do you mean Professor?" asked Lilly.

"What I mean to say Lilly, is that your son, Charles Nicolas Potter is the cause for the disappearance of the Dark Lord. He is also the one that has protected his little brother from being killed. That is what these scars signify; it is where the killing curse should have hit. I hereby hail Charles Nicolas potter as the boy who lived!"

That is what the wizarding world now knows, that Charles Nicolas Potter is the boy who lived. But Dumbledore, as wise as he may be, is also still human. Therefore prone to making mistakes, he may not make many but he will make them nonetheless. The mistakes he makes however are worse than those of a normal man and with many repercussions. Naming Charles Nicolas Potter the boy who lived was one of those mistakes, but not just any mistake, his worst.

**AN: For those that have read the earlier version, hopefully this is better. Tell me what you think!**

**-SK**


	2. CH1 Family situation

**Disclaimer: don't own HJP yada yada yada!**

Family situation

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><p>A lone boy sat on his bed staring out at the starry sky. The clouds that obscured the earths natural satellite moved on and showed it in it's full glory. The ethereal light of the moon showed the rooms occupant bathing in it. The rooms occupant was none other than Harry Potter in all of his 11 years. Harry was truly a carbon copy of his father, except for the eyes. They were the emerald green of his mother. Even if so alike in appearance those twin orbs were completely different than the ones sweet Lilly owned. The sparkle they should have had was not there, no they showed an swirl of emotions no eleven year old should show. It was the evidence of internal struggle, one that had been present for years. His mind was a whirlwind of thoughts and memories, some of which he did not want to remember. The night sky had always had a calming effect on him, especially the moon, unlike his pseudo uncle. It was his safe haven, his paradise, his place of freedom . Though most of all it was the keeper of his secrets, his deepest and darkest. They rested in the eternal darkness of the night, amongst the sparkling stars and gaping black holes. Never to be revealed. But even the night sky could not heal the wounds which were still open wide and bleeding. The continual reminders that not all was right in his life. An eleven year old can only take so much, and slowly but surely Harry Potters barriers fell one by one. And so he cried in the safety of the blanket of darkness the night threw over the world. Cried because he couldn't hold it back anymore, the pain, the confusion and most of all the loneliness. Cried until he could cry no more, until he fell into a restless sleep. Yes Harry Potter was lonely child and had been for the last 6 years.<p>

The Sun slowly came up and started shining brightly, showing the living conditions of the Potters. The Potters still lived in Godrics Hollow, though number seven was no longer their residence. No , number seven was still a pile of burned wood surrounded even now by the foul magics that had been used that night. Though it was painful reminder of what had transpired that night, it was also the night their son became The-boy-who-lived. With that declaration came the fame, respect and wealth of a celebrity. That would be the reason the now lived in comfortable number 30 of Godrics Hollow. Number 30 was a nice 3 story building with 5 or 6 acres of forest surrounding it. The smooth transition between marble, brick and wood was a piece of art. The grand oak doors and small fountain on the gravel road completed the image of the picture perfect house. Yes the potters didn't have bad at all , quite the contrary really. Now the tranquil quite of this lovely morning would soon be ruined by -" WOOHOO! Wakey, Wakey everyone! It's time for ME to get to Hogwarts!"- a very hyper active Charles Potter.

Harry Groaned and looked at his alarm clock and groaned some more. It was 7:00 o clock, his usual waking time, but today it was just way too early. He felt like crap and his brothers hyperactive voice was grating on his nerves. Suddenly though the words that his twin had shouted on this fine morning registered inside his mind. One word in particular: Hogwarts! His eyes widened and a small smile graced his lips. He got out of bed and went about his usual morning ritual. This ritual consisted of showering, brushing his teeth and getting dressed. At 7:30 he headed downstairs and went to the kitchen, ready to perform the next thing on his list: breakfast. When he entered the room that housed the cooking utensils he was hoping to see someone standing there waiting for him to join, but alas it was not to be. The kitchen was empty as per usual. He sighed and went about the kitchen with a practiced ease, cooking up breakfast for the whole house. He had always loved to cook, but now it had lost it former splendor. The warm feeling the kitchen had once brought him was now only a memory. The bacon and eggs were done and divided amongst the 5 plates. Toast was also being made and put on the table.

Suddenly he heard the tell-tale noise of someone coming down the stairs. Amongst the creaking of the stairs were the heavy steps of his father and the light laugh of his mother. Above him he could hear the sounds of his siblings having an argument. They were coming down now too.

The sounds he so envied, came closer and closer until they entered the kitchen. First entered his father: James Potter. James had messy hair ,a pair of hazel brown eyes that were covered by some glasses and an easy going grin on his face. He was by no means tall, but he was an impressive sight nonetheless, at his 1.5 meters. Yes, the years of auror training had done him good.

Next to him stood his lovely wife, Harry's mother. Lily Evans was no longer the feisty little redhead that she had been in her youth. Her beautiful mane of red hair now reached her lower back, and it framed her face perfectly. She wasn't some plastic doll that had to put on makeup to be good looking, no she had a natural beauty few could rival. She was not busty, but rather curvy in the right places in a simple and elegant way. She had porcelhine-like pale skin, a few freckles here and there and her beautiful green eyes that sparkled with joy and love. She was't tall but neither was she short, but rather somewhere in between. In a few words she was a sought after women.

Bursting through the married couple came his siblings. First came his sister, junior to him by a year. She had the wavy black hair and a pale skin and his fathers eyes. A mischievous expression on her young face. " Violet give my wand back!" yelled Charles Potter. The eldest potter twin had more his mothers genes instead of his his red hair and hazel brown eyes he was the exact opposite of Harry. He was a bit bigger and rounder than his younger brother. His mother scolded Violet with laughter and James just laughed heartily.

It was a scene of a perfectly happy family.

A family he wasn't part of.

"Good morning." he said but no answer came, not even a glance. They were completely oblivious to the fact that he stood there. Not even a thank you for the pre-made breakfast.

He was used to it, so used to it. Yet it hurt . It hurt every single time.

And he was sick of it, sick of being ignored no matter what he did. He had at one time, done everything in his power to gain his parent's attention and affection. Except that plan brought no fruits. No matter what he did, his brother or sister did it better, at least in his parent's eyes. But now they were going to Hogwarts and it was his time to shine, time to show them what they had ignored. He may not have the fame of his brother or the genius of his sister, who could grasp everything at just a glance. No, but he was a genius, one of hard work. He had poured everything into his studies. Everything, and couldn't wait to show them just what he was capable of. And maybe, maybe his parents would pay attention to him, because in the end that was all he wanted.


	3. Ch 2 A Friend for life

**Hello again people! Long time no see this is because: I was on vacation, almost lost a finger and had a writers block. I know this chapter isn't the most exciting but 't is necessary, a little background info. It was however fun to write, so enjoy!**

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><p>A friend for Life<p>

He ate is breakfast, methodically and fast. He didn't want to see it but not be part of it. It tore at him, ate him away from the inside. His defenses had already fallen once and he would not have it happen again. At least not in front of them, he wouldn't give them the satisfaction. Once he finished he cleaned his plate and left. As he trecked up the steps, the sound of laughter slowly caught up to him, making him speed up. He didn't go to his room, which was situated in the attic, he went to the owlry. The owlry was right above his room, the staircase leading up there adjacent to it. As he arrived in the highest part of the house, he couldn't help but marvel the view. The early morning sun casting a soft light upon the surrounding forest. He looked around the circular room and found two owls on their respective perches, a barn owl and an regal looking eagle owl. It wasn't Aphrodite or Eduard he was looking for though. He looked up and found who he was looking for. Up in the right corner, on a ledge, sat _his_ avian companion, one of his few friends. Her pearly white feathers, be speckled with black spots here and there. He called out to her affectionately " Hedwig." As he spoke her name, the snowy owl opened her eyes and elegantly swooped down towards him. As she settled down on his stretched out arm, he could see her once closed eyes. They were a pair of striking yellow eyes, intelligent, all seeing eyes. He petted her while he talked, talked because she was the only one willing to listen.

" Hey girl, did you have good hunt last night?" a confirmatory hoot was his answer.

" Thats good. You know today's important right?"

'Hoot?'

"Yeah it is, were going to Hogwarts today!You ready to show them what were made of?"

Two sharp barks and a puffing of her chest.

"Heh exactly what I was thinking!"

He then stared forlornly out to the rising sun still petting the snowy, he had time after all. His sadness fading with each new ray of the sun, but never truly leaving. Misery, it always kept him company, the one friend he didn't want. Hedwig, like always, noticed his moping and gave him an inquiring look and hooted softly, as if questioning him.

"I'm fine Hedwig, no really I am!" It wasn't Hedwig he was trying to convince, not really. It was himself. He knew that and so did she, but it worked. It showed that somebody still noticed and cared about him. It brought a warmth to him, a warmth that battled the cold apathy that was slowly taking him over.

"Thanks Hedwig. Go on then, sleep some more on your perch before I put you in your cage!"

She nipped his ear affectionately, albeit a bit sharper because of his comment and flew back to her perch. He grinned, she could always bring his spirits back up! She had been here for only a month , but it was as if they had know each other a lifetime. He remembered how they had found each other, both outcasts.

_-Flashback-_

It was because they had gotten their acceptance letters for Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry that they went to Diagon alley for their joint eleventh birthday. Well, more like for Charlie's birthday and he had tagged along. And he was truly tagging along, he walked behind the Potter entourage, as he had dubbed it. The Potter entourage consisted of James, Sirius and Remus forming a triangle at point, then his siblings and then his mother who closed the diamond formation. The needed to do that because else the BWL's fans would completely swamp them, preventing them from accomplishing anything. He looked around, looking at the hustle and bustle with a childish curiosity. He always enjoyed it, just watching people come and go, trying to guess what they were here for. It had been a game of his for as long as he could remember. He watched as an old woman chewed out the store clerk over the price of some potion ingredient. He snickered at the cowed look on the clerks face, dang that women must be one hell of character. He didn't even need to look where the 'P.E.' was, the sounds of squeals and shouts of awe painting his way. Even if that wasn't the case he knew Diagon alley better than most, those of his age anyway. They walked shop in shop out, his parents buying things for Charles, he hurriedly bringing the books and supplies he needed lest they be forgotten. Finally they ended up at Olivander's wand shop. He'd walked the alley many times, sometimes its complete length, yet he had never entered this age old shop. This would be the first time and he was jittery with nerves; what kind of wand would he get? Would it be strong, weak, mediocre? For that matter could he even get one? He'd been presumed a squib for the longest time after all. He shook that depressing thought from his mind, of course he would!

His brother stood in the middle of the shop, boasting about getting this great and powerful wand. Suddenly a voice came from behind them causing them all to jump in surprise. " Well if it isn't the Potters! I've been expecting you for some time now" Said the man that was presumably Olivander. He was willowy and old with hair almost as unkept as his and his father's. It was his pale eyes though, that made him so mysterious. They shone with knowledge and wisdom that came with age. Harry wondered how old he was. "Ah James, an 11 inch mahogany wand quite pliable if i'm not mistaken." A nod from his father was the answer. " And Sirius black a 15 inch oak wand, yes quite powerful. For Mr. Lupin a flexible 12 1/4 inch elm wand and last but not least for Mrs. Potter a 10 1/4 ich willow, quite swishy and good for charms work and as you have shown, apparently healing. I do hope that they are still in the same good condition as when you bought them here" He gave the adults all a soft glare, making them chuckle. "However to hear my miraculous memory is not what you are here for now is it? Come on up boy, I have to measure you!" And so Charles puffed out his chest and stepped forward. He got measured by the floating measurer. All the while Mr. Olivander watched it with an experienced eye. Suddenly he nodded and ordered the length to stop. He then went on to the back, all the while muttering to himself and a few moments he came back with a box in his hand.

" A 14 inch willow with unicorn hair." He had just given it to Charles who was about to give it a wave when it was immediately taken out of his hands. " That just won't do! Won't do at all!" The next wand that got chosen was a 16 inch oak wand with dragon heart string as its core. This time it didn't get immediately snatched out of his hands and so Charles waved it. The effects were that the box that this wand had been in exploded. Nope, not that wand either and so 5 more went through Charles' hand and none of them fit. Charles, Harry saw was getting impatient, it seemed that Mr. Olivander saw that too because he suddenly ran back to into the shop while muttering: "Either that one... or I wonder..." he came back with two boxes: one looked real dusty, and he meant REAL dusty. Harry, who had had to clean the attic to make it his room had seen dust, so he should know. That must have been something rather special, even the adults had their full attention fixed on that box. " Mr. Potter please try this one. It is an eleven inch Holly wand with a phoenix feather at its core." And so Charles gave it a swish and all the boxes on one of the shelves attacked them. Mr. Olivander swiftly took the wand away and the boxes fell harmlessly to the ground. " It seems this one will not do." Said Mr. Olivander disappointedly. " But I want that one!" came Charles dissonant shout. The disappointed smile on the old wandmaker's face made place for a strained one: " Mr. Potter please be aware that it is not the wizard that chooses the wand. It is rather the wand that chooses the wizard. It would do you good to remember that. Now please try this one. I think that his one would fit you quite well." With a frown on his face the oldest of the twins swished his wand and a lone red spark shot out of the tip. Immediately the frown turned into a bright smile. " I did it mum! Dad! I did it!" he shouted with glee. "That Mr. Potter is a 14 inch Mahogany wand with a dragon heart string as its core. It is quite pliable, good for transfiguration and hexes. It seems that you follow in your fathers footsteps Mr. Potter." Harry smiled wryly at that statement ' More than you know Mr. Olivander, more than you know.'

Harry then stepped out of the shadows and said: "Could I get one as well Mr. Olivander?" He seemed surprised to see him: " Oh dear, my age must be catching up to me, I didn't notice you there young man! "Not many do Mr. Olivander. My name's Harry, Harry Potter." The old wandmaker's eyes widened and they flicked over to his parents. "Well come on then lets measure you!" and so the process repeated its self. Harry watched with disappointment as everyone was pulled into the BWL's ramblings. It seemed that even less wands liked him, because he went through and handful more then his twin. The thought he had banished before he entered the shop returned with a vengeance. What if no wand accepted him?

The odd thing though was that the more wands he went through the happier Mr. Olivander became, instead of morose like he! "A hard customer? No problem!" and he once more went into the depth of his own shop. The unsurprising thing was that Charles seemed to becoming rather impatient and restless. And so another wand passed through his hands. It was just as the wand maker stepped towards the towering amount of wands that he abruptly turned around and strode towards the dusty case with the Holly wand. " Try this one Mr. Potter" "But, that one- " "Just try it." And so Harry did. It was unlike anything he'd ever felt, not even all _those_ times could compare. It was even warmer, even nicer. It slowly all went to his wand hand and out of the tip came loads of yellow sparks. He smiled which eventually turned into a smirk. He'd gotten the wand his brother had wanted. " Curious, very curious." spoke Mr. Olivander. " Whats curious?" he asked.

"The phoenix from which the feather is in that wand of yours gave one other. And its just so happens that its brother, why it's brother gave your brother his famous scar! We can expect great things from you Mr. Potter. You-know-who did great things, terrible yes, but great." answered Olivander. Harry gulped and looked nervously at the rest of his family to see if they had heard that little fact. It seemed not, thank Merlin for that! " If we could keep that just between the two us, Mr. Olivander. that'd be... great." he whispered. The shop owner wryly smiled and answered in the same tone: " Of course my boy, Of course. Mum's the word. " "Thank you." "Well than i'll package both wands, and that'll be 14 Galleons in total please." he spoke loudly so everyone could hear. A tinkle of bell later and they were out of the dusty shop ready to go home. That had been the plan, but it seemed that as they passed Eyopels Owl Emporium that Charles had decided he wanted his own owl. So they all entered the owl-filled shop. It went from great greys to pigeon owls. Harry wandered around, looking at each bird with interest. He'd always liked animals, and they had always liked him in return. He walked around until he came to the very back where one lone snowy owl sat on a perch. The other birds seemed to avoid it, not one was within a 5 meter radius, which was a feat considering the size of the shop. It was then that the shopkeeper came around the corner as well muttering obscenities under his breath about pesky brats. Harry couldn't suppress the smile but soon once more turned his attention on the owl. It was beautiful specimen, a snowy but the gender he did not know. He stepped closer to the avian, ever unaware of the stare of the shopkeeper, who looked on with interest. It seemed it that the owl had noticed him, and opened its eyes. Green met yellow. He kept on stepping closer, his eyes never wavering. Harry was now in front of the snowy and lifted his hand, the owl following his hand with ease. His hand soon felt the soft touch of feathers and the owl closed it eyes in pleasure. " Well I'll be damned!" came the shopkeeper's surprised voice. "What?" he asked while still petting the softly cooing owl. " She's got a nasty temper, that one does! Caused me loads of trouble that girl did! Can't get along well with the other owls, much less us humans! Its the first time she hasn't bitten anyone or just plain flown away! Moved her back because I thought i'd never get to sell her." A she, he should have know. Harry smiled at that and whispered to the owl: "Its kind of musky in here, I bet you feel cooped. Do I know what that feels like, bloody Daniel. Anyway, want to join me and stretch your wings in the open air?" She suddenly removed her head from his hand and watched him closely, before hooting and.. did she just nod? "Seems you were wrong, sir!." and a laugh escaped the man. "Seems so lad. Just as he was about to ask about the price when the sounds of his siblings got louder and louder. The birds didn't seem to appreciate the noise, adding to the cacophony. The shopkeeper went back to the front, a frown marring his bearded face. Harry stayed here because he knew how it would proceed. The man would gulp at actually being fully aware of who just were "those pesky snot nosed brats" and would lose all that anger in one swoop. His brother would get the avian at a discount or for free, depending on how affected by the war the man was. It always ended up that way. Then they'd "ding" leave the shop, without him once more.

He sighed. Why couldn't they remember that it was his birthday as well?

The shopkeeper came back to him and spoke: " Sorry about all that lad but I had some important and tricky customers, as you might have heard." His lips took the form of soft smile, tricky indeed. "So, sir how much does she cost?"

" Lad you're the first one in 3 years to take her, I'm happy to have her taken out of my hands! How 'bout 10 Galleons, she is a beauty after all!" Harry almost jumped in joy. 10 Galleons! He had taken 5 times as much just in case! The money was of course not his own but all stol-... lent from his brother's grand allowance of course, its not like it changed much for his twin. Once finished paying for the snowy and some necessities that were required when taking carer of an owl. He left the shop with his wallet weighing a lot less but his arms filled to the brim. The bell tinkled and he joyously bid the man goodbye. He walked in the hustle and the bustle down to the leaky cauldron. He entered the dingy bar and it was not as full as it usually was, although that may have had to do with the time. It was only around 3 after all. He was soon spotted by Tom, the kind old bar tender. Tom might not have had the most handsome face or body, but his personality more than made up for it. The bleu eyed man nodded to him, and waved his hand around the bar in a questioning manner. Harry shook his head, smiled sadly and said: " Not today my friend, not today. Got to take this beauty home." He lifted up the sleeping owl. Tom smiled: "Alright Harry take some floo then, free of charge. That is only on the condition that the next time you do stay and help out this old man. Oh, and before i forget, heres your gift." Harry smile almost split his face: "Thanks, just add it to the pile and next time for sure! Bye Tom!" A letter was added to the pile and he stepped into the hearth after he'd thrown the powder in the fire, making it a vibrant green.

He fell in an empty house, his spoils of shop scattered around him, and glared avidly at the fireplace; flooing was something his parents had also neglected to teach him.. " Sorry about that. Welcome... home" It sounded hollow to him, and it had for years. It was his house, yes, but home? He wasn't so sure anymore.

He then took the rudely awoken owl to his room.

"I've got to give you a name. Alright lets see." and so he started rattling of names all which got rejected by him or her. He went from Maria, to Snowflake. He suddenly went over to the names of famous witches he knew and said : " How about Hedwig?" She hooted happily and bobbed her head up and down. " Alright then, Hedwig it is!"

He talked to her while he opened the letter of Tom which contained a secret recipe for Lamb chops. He talked to her while he waited for his family to return, the hope that they'd jump out and yell: "Surprise, Happy birthday Harry!". This turned out to be the rest of that day to late into the night.

_-End flashback-_

Yes that had been a fruitful trip to Diagon. He had in the mean time reached his room and fingered the holly wand which laid upon his desk, put it in his pocket and started packing his bag. He looked around his meagerly decorated, compared to his siblings anyway, room. A bed all nice and made up, a desk cluttered with papers, writing utensils, books, a block of wood and a knife. The walls were filled with astronomical charts and views. He learned the secrets of the cosmos just like it learned his. Across from his bed stood his book case, filled with books of all sorts and next to it a chest, a shrinkable one at that. He could have done it magically, but this kept his mind off of things he didn't want to think about. Once he was finished packing, the desk empty, the walls blank once more, the book case emptier and the chest shrunken and hanging around his neck. He grabbed Hedwig's cage and collected her as well, although this was easier said then done. Hedwig passionately hated the cage. He carried her down, still arguing with the pesky female. Ready to go, he was ready to start stepping out of his brother's shadow.

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><p><strong>I hope you enjoyed it and any criticism is welcomed. I will aslo try to update faster now that i can type normally again. <strong>

**-SK**


	4. Ch 3 A lonely Ride

**AN: Hello people, here is the next chapter of Broken Brothers! I am quite happy with it, although it had some major revisions the last two days. Also thank you all for reading this story; over a 1000 hits! Enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: Everyone except Jack Bowley, Amanda, Gordon and the Slytherin Prefect belong to J. K Rowling!**

A Lonely Ride

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><p>As they arrived at Kings Cross Harry Potter really, really wondered how the hell his father ever gotten his license for driving. The man was an absolute nightmare on the road. That last car had been way too close for comfort. Harry thought his father might have taken driving lessons from earn, the point however was that this wasn't a magically enhanced bus.<p>

"James," spoke a very pale Lily.

"Yes Lilly?"

" Im driving back."

"But- "

"No buts _I am _driving back." The intense glare accompanying the statement definitely sealed any more debate that his father might have wanted to start.

"Yes dear. "

They exited the car, grabbed their stuff and hoisted it onto trollies. He had to do this on his own, while his father helped Charles. They then proceeded to move on to Platform 9 3/4. His father was walking next to Charles joking and laughing and his mother was comforting a sulking Violet. They didn't even check if he was coming along. Soon enough they were standing in front of the wall that was the barrier to the Hogwarts Express. First Charles went through it and then Violet with his parents.

He still stood there, in front of the wall. It looked so solid, not unlike that walls behind the school in Godric's hollow and boy, was he familiar with them, more than he would like. Now was however not the time to think of that. He started walking and then sped up bit by bit, until he was going full speed. The bricks were coming ever close, becoming ever clearer in detail. He closed his eyes and waited for the crash, the inevitable smash, but it didn't come. His feet pounded on, suddenly reverberating. He opened up his eyes to see a wrought archway proudly proclaiming : "Platform 9 3/4". He passed under it and he saw a platform filled with people, filled with sounds and smells. The hoots of owls, the meows of cats, the smell of coal, the smell of steam, the sights of family moments, be they happy or sad. There stood a majestic red train, the train that would take him to the place that would house him for the next 7 years. He had by now slowed down and was looking around for his family. He saw the Weasley Clan, easily spottable with their red hair, all pointing and looking in one direction. He followed their sight and found what he was looking for. There they stood, next to the Longbottoms. As he walked towards them he heard the people whispering: "Look its the Potters!" "The Longbottoms, truer Gryffindors are rarely found!" "Its the War Heroes, all together!"

He saw the tall and lank form of Frank leaning on his walking stick, talking to his father. He saw Alice in her wheelchair fussing about Violet, who gladly accepted the attention, with Lilly. Alice always had fussed over Violet, for she had always wanted a daughter. She however never could. It was when he first met them that he realized that he and his brother hadn't been the only ones marked by the war. Lastly he saw Neville talking to Charles as they came from the train, having already claimed a compartment it would seem. Neville looked a lot like charles, except without the glasses and with brown hair. He watched with envy as they laughed and talked, they looked like _brothers_.

He watched as they were called by their respective fathers, he heard the praise they got.

"Charles, Neville were proud of you, know that." Said Frank.

" So go on then, show us what great wizards you are. Show those slytherins who's boss boys also don't prank too much, but if you do." James went on with a smile.

"Don't get caught!" finished Harry in a whisper.

A moment later the other two shouted the families little inside joke while wearing megawatt smiles and everyone laughed.

He watched with envy as they got hugs from their mothers. He saw them struggle against the maternal females with a blush. He turned his eyes away from the scene but he still heard the words.

" I don't want to get a letter home about you young man, is this understood?" Said his mother with a soft glare.

" Crystal clear." said a nodding Charles.

"Oh Charlie, I'll miss you so much! I love you!" Blubbered the red-head that was his mother.

"Mom I love you too and I'll miss you! Yes, mom I'll watch out. Love you! Mom not here! Mom?" said the elder potter twin with a slightly bleu face.

" Lilly," said James while putting a hand on his wife's shoulder.

"What now James?"

" I think you should let the boy breathe."

" Yeah mum, he still has something to say to me, right Charlie?" whined a pouting violet.

"Hey squirt, I'm gonna miss you! You drive dad n ma crazy for me ok?"

"Yeah, I promise! Just so you know, I'm allowing you to call me squirt this once!" the tears in her eyes not making for a convincing glare.

"Don't cry now, I'll be back by Christmas." said Charles.

" I am not crying! There's just something stuck in my eye!" retorted the 10 year old girl.

" If you say so." said the the redhead with a smile.

He'd heard and seen enough, there was no place for him there. He whispered his goodbye and walked on, never turning around.

Had the youngest Potter twin turned around he might have seen the green eyes that followed him.

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><p>He chose an empty compartment, almost at the end of the train. He grabbed a book out of his trunk and then put his trunk under the bench. He took his seat next to the cage with his sleeping snowy. He looked on his wristwatch and saw that he still had 15 minutes left before the train left. He had just started to read in his astronomy book when the door was rudely slammed open.<p>

" Well guys, look what we got here; a firstie! In our compartment no less! Tsk, tsk, tsk. "

Harry looked up and paled. 5 Upper year slytherins, three boys and two girl, in a malicious mood if the smirks were any indication to go by.

" Oh.. uhmm... I'm sorry about this. I didn't know that it was yours, I'll leave immediately." said Harry while he started grabbing his stuff. He needed to get the hell out of here.

"Ah a boy who knows common courtesy, why don't we show some as well and help him out." said the apparent leader of the honey sweet tone, it far from soothed Harry's nerves. The boy wasn't burly but he didn't lack anything in the physical department either. A shiny badge with a P was present on his robes, making him a prefect. He had brown hair and a pair of glaring brown orbs, the expression in them, he'd seen it before. A calculating look a predator gives when he's found prey.

'_Not good, not good!' _thought the first year.

"Thank you, but I don't believe that to be necessary. I mean, I don't want to be more of bother than I already am." said Harry in a last attempt to derail the situation from the course he suspected it was going to take.

" Ah, ah its not polite to decline an offer of help , especially not when it comes from us sixth years. Plus, I'm a prefect. Wingardium leviosa." and his trunk lifted off the ground. Maybe he was over thinking it, maybe they were being genuinely nice...

"Follow Amanda and Gordon, they'll show where _you_ belong." Nope, the emphasis on the you all but destroyed that notion. He looked at the two that were pointed to. Amanda was a blonde girl who wore her hair in a long pony tail and had sharp blue eyes. An angular face with dark red lips quirked into a smirk. Larry on the other hand was a brown haired boy with almost black eyes and a height of around 1.78. He wasn't smiling, not even smirking. A stoic guy. Well at least the boy was no bodybuilder, but this was the wizarding world, and he knew a wand could do a lot more than a fist.

"Okay." he sighed. '_Damned if I do, damned if I don't.' _

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><p>Damned indeed; Harry surmised it could have been a lot worse, but he by no means enjoyed his current situation. No, being stuck in a cupboard-like space on his first train ride to Hogwarts was not his idea of fun.<p>

Apparently it did fit in that category for Danielle and Larry, then again they weren't in the dark space themselves. They had thought he was a muggle and even though he wasn't one, he knew better than to change their minds.

'_Never argue with a higher power unless you see profit._' That was one of his 5 core rules that had made him survive all those years at St. Peterson's. Profit had not beeg seen, since mentioning he was from a Gryffindor family wouldn't help at all, rather it would worsen the situation if anything.

He still heard Amanda's peals of laughter, and remembered the smile on Gordon's face. They had enjoyed toying with him, turning his hair a vibrant purple and gave him a light rash and last but not least; stuffing him into this cramped dark space. It was very juvenile, but he supposed he wasn't worth more in their eyes. He groused some more and then tried to open the door manually. It, of course, failed. So he then tried one of the few spells he knew by heart. "Alohamora... Alohamora... Alohamora!" Nothing, absolutely nothing happened. Suddenly Amanda's parting words rang in his ears once more: "This will be a _long _train ride for you, though you might be lucky . If so, you'll definitely make a bright entrance into Hogwarts!" He cursed up a storm, waking up Hedwig in the process, because he knew he was fucked if nobody found him.

It was so that Harry Potter's first ride to Hogwarts was spent in the darkness of a closet, not seeing the land change shape and color. Not seeing the sun change position by the hour and not meeting his peers as he could have. He'd gotten bored of reading his astronomy book after the first 2 hours and had looked what the hell was in this space anyway. It turned out to be him, Hedwig, his trunk ,a janitors kit and one mouse. He rifled through the janitors kit and to his delight found a Wizarding Wireless set. That delight turned soon turned sour after he found out it was broken. He took it as a challenge though, he'd fixed broken things all his life.

It took him almost 2 hours, but he got it working. The often interrupted by static tune of 'Hey Jude' filling the small dark space. He un-shrunk the chest that hung around his neck and grabbed the wooden block and the knife out of it. He then proceeded to carve into the block, it was another hobby of his. After _That day _he had often wandered around in the forrest, and he'd found a colony of Bowtruckles. These little wood-dwelling critter amazed him and he had seen how they thrived in the wood, made the wood come alive. He wanted to do this as well and thus began his journey into the art of woodcarving. He had also learned that you never took wood from a bowtruckle's tree, not without giving them a large amount of woodlice as a distraction, for those long finger were stronger than you'd think. He'd learned that the hard way and had thus only done that once, and he thought that enough for now. Those trees, they were majestic sight and had a calming presence. When he put his hands on the bark he even felt a soft hum of magic. Yes, having one branch was privilege enough for him. He thus still hadn't used the branch, that branch was going to be used for something special. The knife he used was something special as well. It was the last gift he'd gotten from his family, from his godfather Remus to be precise. It had an intricate design on it, one with runes and Hippogriffs. Harry had always loved stories with Hippogriffs in it, the noble and strong beasts.

Inside the chest, which once again hung around his neck lay some of the carved pieces he'd made over the years, the branch, a few other priceless possessions of a happier time and his money. This money was all his own, it came from his sale of wood art and helping out at The Leaky Cauldron. He'd become rather good at carving over the years and had made a deal with Jack Bowley, resident woodcarver of Diagon Alley. The Bowley family had been in the business for years, their stock ranging from art and trunks to furniture. Harry and Jack got along famously, both loving the art and having to live up to a reputation that overshadowed them.

Jack's Father had been a Genius in his trade, his skill in animation making it even better. Jack's father had however not survived the war and the shop had hit a hard time once it over. Jack's mother had become a shell of her former self and committed suicide a year after Jack had taken over the shop. The populace wanted the quality Bowley's had had before, but the young Bowley couldn't animate worth his life and the depression he faced after his mother's death didn't help take off the pressure. He started going more to The Leakey Cauldron than the work bench. This was how they met, and at age of 9 Harry Potter was officially in the wood carving business.

After an hour of hacking and slicing at the wood block it finally started to look like a Hippogriff in flight. It was also the moment that his stomach let know that it was not satisfied with the current predicament. He once again tried to open the door, but alas it still refused to budge. He had wanted to eat a nice treat, but it seemed his own made lunch would have to do. It was so that he ate one measly tuna sandwich. He shared it with both the animals which were his traveling company. The mouse had calmed down after the first hour, although Hedwig still eyed it with a predatory look. The bread crumbs seemed to put Harry into the mouses good graces since it took residence on his torso. He decided to name the brown colored rodent Jerry, modeled of course after the cartoon character. He went back to carving once the song "Magic works' by The Weird Sisters started playing. Another hour passed this way and he was done by the time Celestina Warbeck came on the WWN. He put his tool and finished product back into the shrinkable chest and sighed as his stomach growled for the umpteenth time. He lay back down and stared at the what he supposed was the roof of the train. The soft voice of Celina Warbeck and the swaying of the train were kind of hypnotic and soon enough our young friend was dreaming of stars, times gone and times to come. Two hours passed this way, the three inhabitants of the closet sleeping soundly while Celina Warbeck changed into the rambling of plants with Toots, Shoots n' Roots.

Harry was rudely awoken by a rather fast turn which resulted in him hitting the wall of the cramped space. He blew a tuft of still purple hair out of his eyes and groaned as he sat up. He felt his face and to his relief the rash was gone. That got his hopes up, if this hex ended in a few hours, what about the locking charm? No, Alohomora didn't work and in his anger Harry kicked the door, hard.

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><p>Percy Weasley was a person who took his duty as prefect damned serious. It was so that he was on his last patrol on the train, half an hour before their arrival in Hogsmeade. It was then that he heard a dull thump on his right side followed by a muffled cry of what seemed pain and outrage. His suspicions aroused, went to check it out. It seemed the sounds came from a janitors closet at the end of the coach. He tried opening it and found that he could not, manually that was. Alohamora failed but by the third charm it opened up. The hot musty air hit him in the face, with a nice amount of dust. He coughed and sneezed as it assaulted him. It seemed he wasn't the only one who was surprised because an exclamation was made and a was followed by a thump. Percy looked down and saw purple. He blinked and confirmed that it was a <em>purple <em>mass of hair. 'It' spoke: " Ha take that you bloody door! I'm free! Final..ly ... free... oh, hello there.." 'It' said all that while slowly sitting up. 'It' turned out to be a purple haired, green eyed and bespectacled first year.

'_And they say my hair color is preposterous, ha!' _thought the Weasley prefect.

"Well, this is awkward. " stated the aforementioned first year.

" Indeed it is. Mind explaining the situation to me? It's not everyday I find a first year in a cupboard." replied Percy.

" Usually it'd be upper years, is what you're saying Mr. Prefect?" said the purple-headed boy with a grin.

" Wha- how! I never said anything even suggesting such a-" blustered the red head.

" Off course, off course. I was only joking! Say do you know if we are almost there?"

" uhm yes, we're about half an hour away." answered Percy still somewhat lost in the pace of the younger boy.

" Ah how nice, Im starving! Aren't you? Oh how rude of me, I'm holding up you're patrol! Well I'd better get going! Get ready and change, you know?" said the bespectacled boy as he got his things from the cupboard.

"Yes, yes of course. Have to be dressed correctly." said the Weasley with a nod.

"Exactly, wouldn't want to get detention on the first night of school! So thanks for everything and I'll see you around!" and the boy was off ,walking down the corridor with his belongings following him.

Percy nodded in satisfaction and started walking in the opposite direction while thinking : '_What a cheerful boy, maybe he'll be in Gryffindor, certainly seems like the type.'_ It was only 20 minutes later, as Percy stepped onto the platform of Hogsmeade, that he realized his question had never been answered.

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><p>Harry was in a considerably better mood once he was out of the cupboard, and even more so since they had just arrived in Hogsmeade. Having escaped the prefects questioning was a bonus as well, tattle-tailing wouldn't have been appreciated by certain parties. He happily put his belongings in a random compartment, said goodbye to Hedwig and stepped out into the cold night air. What a beautiful night is was indeed, the constellations easily viewable in their age old glory and a soft breeze sometimes showing a glimpse of the moon from behind the clouds. The chitter chatter on the platform was broken by a loud and deep voice: " First year! First years over here! First years!" It was a voice Harry knew well. He thus quickly made his way through the masses to the large man from which the shouts emanated. The whole lot of first years kept their distance, looking at the man in wonder.<p>

Harry eagerly stepped up to him and addressed the humongous man: " Hey Hagrid! How you holding up?"

The man looked down, showing a face almost completely hidden by a bushy black beard. "Hey, I be good, but do I know ya?"

"Hagrid, its me; Harry! The one who helps Tom out every once in a while?" exclaimed the youngest potter twin.

"Oh Harry, I didn't recognize ya with the purple hair! How are ya me lad?" questioned the keeper of keys jovally.

Harry laughed, he was in such as good mood that he had completely forgotten about his purple hair!

" I'm good Hagrid, well except for the purple hair, as you might have noticed. I'm also starving for food, you think were ready to go?"

" I believe so Harry. Are all the first years here?" this question was answered by nods and few yeses. " Great, follow me than!" And they did, all chatting rather excitably. Harry was walking next to Hagrid, catching up with the friendly giant of a man. They stopped in front of lake, where multiple little boats lay. " Alright you lot! Four per boat , and no more! Harry you too, come on!"

Harry reluctantly left the large man's side and went into the first boat on his left. He was joined by 3 girls. Two were of Indian Heritage, identical twins it would seem since they looked almost the same. The other was a girl he knew of. Lavender brown; daughter of Mrs. Brown, one of the secretaries in the Auror department and Mr. Brown who worked for The Daily Profit. He'd seen her around at a few BWL parties that were hosted at Potter manner on Halloween. Lavender and one of the twins were having a very lively and bubbly conversation about Gilderoy Lockhear, not noticing his presence at all. The other twin took a seat next to him, since it was the only one available. The boats started moving and Harry was about to start a conversation with the girl when one of the most beautiful things he'd ever seen took his breath away. Hogwarts, in its full glory, the towers and lights sparkling in the reflective surface of the lake. A full moon right above it, illuminating in a soft and mysterious light. Harry sat there in a daze, it was a moment he was sure he was never to forget.

Soon enough they arrived and went ashore. They were taken over from Hagrid by a stern looking woman, who he knew to be Professor McGonagall. She gave a speech about the houses and such and then said they had to wait here until they were called into the great hall. Harry was once again about to start conversation with the girl when he was interrupted by screams. He looked what had caused them and saw ghosts floating through the walls. They were talking about peeves, which Harry knew was the poltergeist of the school. One of them was a friar who claimed his old house had been Hufflepuff so Harry supposed that was the Fat Friar. Harry was for the third time going to try and introduce himself to the girl when the doors to the Great hall were opened up and they got called in. Miffed Harry got into the single file line and walked on with the rest.

The Great hall was split into five tables: The staff table at the other end of the hall and four long tables, which is where the rest of the students sat. On the very right stood the table with Amanda and such, who were pointing at him in apparent amusement. Next to Slytherin's table stood the table with a yellow banner above it, Hufflepuff's table. Then the row of first years stood between the Hufflepuff table and the Ravenclaw one, easily identifiable by the bleu banner above it. That left Gryffindor on the left side of the hall. He looked up and saw something his parents had told stories about, but it couldn't beat the real thing; the ceiling of the Great hall. It looked like it opened up to the sky, as if there had been no ceiling at all. He heard a bushy haired girl explain it was bewithed. Harry didn't care if it was or wasn't, it was a wondrous sight and he believed he could stare at it for hours on end.

As they stood in the middle of the Hall he wondered what they had to do, he'd heard the Weasley mention wrestling a troll, but he found that very unlikely since his father and Uncle Sirius had said the same thing. He watched as in front of the staff table a stool was set down, and upon it sat an old and rugged hat. '_What do we have to do with a hat, pull a bunny out of it?' _thought harry skeptically right before a tear in the hat opened up and it begun to sing. He clapped along with everyone else as the hat finished its witty serenade. What he'd gathered from the song was that they only had to put the hat on to their heads, which was a relief.

Professor McGonagall then started the roll call. Abbot being sorted into Hufflepuff, Bones soon following her to the second table on the right. The call went on for while, every table now having had a student or two added to their number. Soon they came to the p's which informed him that the girl he'd been trying to introduce himself to was called Padma Patil, she was sorted into Ravenclaw. Sally-Anne Perks was sorted into Hufflepuff and then Professor McGonagall called out: "Potter, Charles!"

The great hall immediately became filled with whispers:

"Did she say _Potter?" _

"As in _The _Charles Potter?

The red-head Harry knew to be his twin strutted towards the stool like he owned the place, not unlike Malfoy had done. Charles put on the sorting hat and a minute later the hat loudly proclaimed Charles to be a "Gryffindor!" The table of Lions of course cheered like no tomorrow, cheers of: " We got Potter! We got Potter!" could be heard. The head of Charles' new house cleared her throat and called out: " Potter, Harry!"

The hall was once again filled with whispers:

"Did she just say Potter again?"

"There's another Potter? I thought the sister was one year younger!"

Harry had been feeling very sure of himself up till now, but suddenly that good mood and all that confidence was gone. Just like at Olivander's Harry's mind came up with horrible thoughts. He however shook them off, took a deep breath and walked forward to the stool He did this with as much dignity as he could with his bright purple hair. He blushed as he heard the snickers and guffaws, but he'd show them! He'd make another table proud with the Potter name! He put the hat on his head, and soon all he saw was the inside of the the old hat. He waited and soon enough a little voice spoke in his ear:

"Hmmm, more than enough courage I see, and not a bad brain either! Talent and is here too, and heavens! What a thirst to prove yourself! How interesting, how very interesting. Now where to sort you?"

Harry was very acutely aware of where he needn't be sorted, unless he wished to be disowned so he thought: '_Not Slytherin, not Slytherin!" _

" Not Slytherin eh? Well, You needn't to worry, you might have a large thirst to prove yourself, but Slytherin is not the place in which you'll thrive. No, your other qualities would cause for a trouble with that over ambitious lot. No, I know exactly where to put you...

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><p><strong>Thats all folks! Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did and reviews and criticism are always welcomed!<strong>

**-S.K.**


	5. Ch 4 The Den

**AN: Hello people i****ts been a while, but here is: the next chapter! To all the people who dropped a review: Thank you, that's what keeps me writing! Also a large thank you to the harry potter wiki, for loads of good information! I also tried to keep it as close to canon as possible, so:**

**Disclaimer: Everyone and everything belongs to J.K. Rowling, no copyright intended.**

**Now that that's out of the way, on to the Story! **

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><p>The Den<p>

" Not Slytherin eh? Well, You needn't to worry, you might have a large thirst to prove yourself, but Slytherin is not the place in which you'll thrive. No, your other qualities would cause for a trouble with that over ambitious lot. No, I know exactly where to put you... With a heart so loyal and tough, none better than: HUFFLEPUFF!

The table with the yellow banner clapped as they welcomed him as their newest member. He felt everyone's stare as he sat down next to Sally-Anne. She was rather small and had brown hair. Harry could't really see anything more since she hadn't look up from her plate since he took seat next to her. The empty seat on the other side of him was soon occupied by one Zacharias Smith. The boy had blonde hair, bleu eyes and an upturned nose. He was also lanky, though not as much as the newest Weasely who got sorted into Gryffindor house. The sorting was finally done with Zabini being sorted into Slytherin. McGonagall rolled up the parchment and took away the stool and hat. Professor Dumbledore then stood up and spread his arms with a bright smile on his lips. "Welcome!" he said. " Welcome to Hogwarts, at the beginning of a new school year. Before the feast begins however I would like to say a few words. These being: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you." The Headmaster sat back down while everyone in the hall clapped and shouted. Harry clapped along, shaking his man was still as odd as always, and he suspected it had something to do with age, not that he'd ever say that to the man's face. Harry's mind went blank as his nose was bombarded with delicious smells, and his eyes were treated with the sight of what was possibly the largest quantity of food he'd ever seen on one table. Harry wasted no time and filled his plate to the brim. It was absolutely delicious, probably even more so since the last meal he'd had was his own made lunch. It was when he was taking his third helping that he heard the first words of conversation directed at him.

" H- how can you still eat?" came a soft and awed voice. He looked over at Sally-Anne, the one who had spoken. Her brown eyes, and slightly freckled face filled with a mix of awe and disgust. This was quickly replaced by a viscous blush. Various other badgers also seemed curious about this feat as well. " Two reasons: First off I didn't really have any lunch and second this," He indicated the whole laden table with his hand. " this is food from the gods!" he punctuated that statement by eating another drumstick. Laughter and sounds of agreement followed his statement. This led to a discussion of favorite foods and such. Zacharias Smith turned out to be a snobby and critical kid whose favorite food was his mothers apple pie. Sally-Anne was a quite and shy girl, so she didn't contribute much except for that her favorite food was lamb chops. Not that Harry added much either, he was busy stuffing himself full with his third helping. Sally-Anne kept looking at him only to blush, look away and fiddle with her food. Finally she seemed to have built up enough courage to speak. She looked at him with a blush gracing her cheeks and said: " N-not to be r-rude, but ummm.. why do you have purple hair?" He blinked, he had completely forgotten about his hair problem, again. He sighed and answered: " Same reason as for why I didn't have lunch. Anyhow, anyone know the counter-jinx to this?" The second year who was seated next to Zacharias nodded. " Sure do. Marilyn over there," he pointed to a girl further down the table. " uses it often to punish me for beating her at gobstones. She say's I cheat, but I don't. She just bad at, really bad. So I had to learn it unless I wished to walk around with pink and polka-dotted hair. Here you go: Multicorfors Finem!" and Harry felt his hair tingle. He pulled it down, and indeed his hair had changed back to black!

" Thanks a lot uhh.." Harry had no idea what the boys name was.

"Eugene Warmsley." supplied the brown haired boy with a smile and a hand.

" Thanks Eugene and nice to meet you! Name's Harry Potter. " is what he answered while he shook the offered hand.

Apparently this is what many had been waiting for this to turn up because the table had suddenly gone a lot quieter. " Are you truly?" asked the Zacharias in a somewhat skeptical tone.

He looked at all the interested faces and sighed, he'd eventually be interrogated about it so he might as well get it over with. " Yeah, truly."

" So you're the brother to The Boy Who Lived?" continued a girl on the opposite side.

" Thats right. Twins actually." The deserts appeared.

" Are you the youngest?" asked Eugene.

" Yes, I'm the youngest twin. He is however definitely not the most mature." Harry smirked, no Charles was anything but mature.

" Really? Whats he like then?" asked the same girl as before while he scooped some vanilla ice cream in his bowl.

" Exactly like my father used to be." he said before happily eating some of his ice cream.

" And that is?" said the boy opposite of Eugene. The need to know practically filling the air.

Harry closed his eyes as he ate another spoon of vanilla. He wanted to say: An arrogant, spoilt brat who has too much energy! He knew however that if he did they would peg him as jealous, and he wasn't, not of the BWL status anyway. So he went for a diplomatic answer: " You'll see for yourself in the next few days I expect. Enough about my family, you got any siblings Sally-Anne?"

She blushed, apparently not used to being included in many conversations. She shook her head and said: " N-no its j-just me and my parents."

" Same here. You however also have a sister one year your junior right? " Said Smith

" I do." Harry answered.

" She's the genius right?" asked the boy across from Eugene.

Harry frowned slightly.

" Yes she is. So Sally, is it ok if I call you Sally or do you prefer Anne?"

" S-sally is fine." She was blushing even more now. He saw Zacharias roll his eyes.

" So Sally I was wondering are you muggle?" continued Harry regardless.

" Y-yes." she answered softly while again looking down at her lap.

" Well if you ever need help with something, you can come to me." he gave her a warm smile.

" T-thanks, I-I will." She was again blushing brightly, but her smile was perhaps even brighter.

Harry decided then and there that he liked that smile.

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><p>The deserts had by now disappeared and the headmaster stood up again. "Ahem- A few announcement at the beginning of the school year, now that we are fed and watered. This is mostly for the first years: the forbidden forest is as it name states, forbidden. This warning might also need to be committed to memory by a few older years." Dumbledore's twinkling eyes focused on the Gryffindor table. "Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to remind you that between lessons there is no magic to be used in the hallways." Harry snorted, that was impossible to achieve. " In the second week of the school year quidditch try outs shall be held for the house teams. Students who want to apply need to get into contact with Madame Hooch. And finally I want to stress that the right corridor on the third floor is explicitly forbidden for everyone who does not wish to die a most painful death."<p>

A few thought that last announcement to be joke and laughed, but Harry thought it wasn't. And if it was a joke, it was a very bad one.

" Let us now, before I send you off to bed, sing our school song!" Dumbledore conjured a golden cloth which formed the lyrics. " Everyone choose your favorite melody. Alright, a one , a two and a three!

The great hall was filled with a cacophony of voices. All singing the same thing:

"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,

Teach us something please,

Whether we be old and bald,

Or young with scabby knees,

Our heads could do with filling,

With some interesting stuff,

For now they're bare and full of air,

Dead flies and bits of fluff,

So teach us things worth knowing,

Bring back what we've forgot,

Just do your best, we'll do the rest,

And learn until our brains all rot."

Harry had chosen to do it with the Tune of ' Magic works' , so he was one of the people who was done rather early. In the end only the Weasely twins, for they could be nothing but twins, were still singing a slow and sad funeral march. Harry watched with amusement as Dumbledore guided their last few lines with his wand. Everyone clapped at the end, although most of the teachers did this more out courtesy than anything it would seem, if their sour expressions were any gauge. "Ah, music," Dumbledore said, wiping his eyes. "A magic far beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!" Harry could not help but agree, music was a magic of its own.

" Come on First years, Follow me!" Said the hufflepuff prefect, a tall blonde fellow with brown eyes. They did as told and followed him trough a corridor that went to a smaller set of stairs than the Ravenclaws and Gryffindors had gone up on. It even turned into a spiral staircase at one point, only to become normal again a few steps later. They went through three more corridors, one ending in a 3 way split, they took the middle one. While they walked the prefect pointing out what would help you remember how to get to the common room. " That there is a painting of Artemisia Lufkin, first female minister of magic, she was a puff! Means you're close." He also spoke of random facts of the castle. " Just for your information, were directly below the Great hall. Close to the kitchens."

The middle corridor had been very narrow at first but now it resembled more of a hall, large and spacious. Suddenly they turned left into another corridor, it was quite dark and looked rather deserted. Finally they stopped in front of a pile of large barrels, which lay on the right side of the corridor.

" This is it: the entrance to our common room. Its the barrel thats two from the bottom, middle of the second row. Tap on it in the rhythm of ' Helga Hufflepuff, which goes like this." The rhythm was fairly simple, you had to hit it in the same way you would pronounce her name. So five time in total. " If you tap the wrong barrel or the wrong rhythm you'll get drenched in vinegar, which I assure you is not a fun thing. Its the reason were the only house whose common room hasn't been breached." Stated the prefect rather proudly while the barrel rolled back and the wall opened up.

All of them entered it and suddenly the cold, and bleak corridor faded from their minds. The common room was large and round. In the hearth, which was opposite of the entrance, a fire crackled merrily. Bronze oil lamps that hung from the low ceiling illuminated the black and yellow patterned chairs and sofas which were occupied by the other students, who curiously looked at them. Plants hung everywhere, a pair on his left trying to outdo each other in tap dancing.

"Welcome to the Den! I'm Gabriel Truman, and I'm one prefect, the other is.."

" Me!" Said a small and somewhat pudgy black haired girl, with warm brown eyes and a welcoming smile, " Welcome to Hufflepuff! Im Kathleen Prattle, nice to meet you! Took you long enough Gab, I've been waiting here for ages!"

" Kathleen don't you dare complain, you wanted to go here and wait us up. Anyhow, this is my partner so if you have any problems, come to us! Also before we send you off to bed, a few things you should know! Our head of house is Professor Sprout, she's the herbology teacher. So she's also available if you need her, she's always willing to talk."

" Yeah, she's real sweet! Gab here should know, she let him off easy in third year didn't she? "

Gabriel nodded and said: " That she did indeed. I should have gotten a week of detention for that."

"What he do then?" asked a brown haired boy, who was Finch-fletchley if Harry remembered correctly.

Groans in the rest of the room indicated that it was an often told story.

Gabriel glared at them and started speaking: " Ahem- It was on a saturday like any other, a normal day. The sun was shining brightly, the black lake reflecting it brightly into our commons. I left in an uppity mood and-"

" Long story short, he fought with a Ravenclaw Prefect who insisted the Bridget Warlock belonged to their house. They got caught and he got let off easy with only a warning and a box of coconut ice. I though," and here she put her hand next to her mouth conspiratorially" think that he got let of so easy because Professor Sprout found it to be righteous, protecting house honor and all. More a prize than punishment really. Worst is that he didn't even share the ice with me!"

"Prize? It was so cold, so unbearably cold! 't was my punishment, I had to face it alone!"

"Its you're favorite type of ice." she said in a deadpan voice.

" That has nothing to do with this at all. But I have digressed, back to the introduction. We as Hufflepuff are often looked down upon, said to be the weakest house. Thats not true, we have had great wizards in our house. Why last year graduate Nymphodora Tonks is in Auror training!"

" Yeah if that goof can get in, so can we! Show the others what were made of!" said Kathleen with spirit.

" Now on to the rules: you can stay in outside of the commons till 8, and its advised you guys go to bed at 9. The girls go left, the boys go right. Thats about it right Kathleen?"

" Yeah, just two more things. You'll get your schedules tomorrow, from Professor Sprout. Lastly don't sit in front of the the plants left of the hearth, they bite."

It was on that cheerful note that they went to their dormitories, which were also round. Large four poster beds, in the hufflepuff colors. On those beds lay their possessions. Harry had the bed that was furthest from the door, in front of a small window which looked out at a small grove of trees. The bed on his right was taken by a brown haired boy, while the left was taken by Finch-Fletchley. Harry hadn't noticed before, but he was very tired. Warm from all the food and his eyelids heavy. It seemed the rest felt the same because they all went to their respective beds after they had completed their evening rituals. Harry hit the bed and was out like a light, as was the rest although he was not aware it.

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><p>The next day Harry woke up at 7, since Finch-Fletchley's alarm clock went off. Wayne Hopkins, the boy who slept on Harry's right, fell off his bed in surprise and asked with a groan: "What is that blasted noise?"<p>

" I don't care what it is! For the love of Merlin, just make it stop!" came Earnie's cry from across the room.

Justin turned it off while apologizing: " Sorry about that people, but otherwise I don't wake up!"

"Earnie poked his head outside of his curtains. " No kidding! No one can sleep through that devilish noise!"

" I agree with you completely, but this guy here ruins that theory." said Harry pointing to a still snoring Zacharias smith.

" You're joking!" said Wayne.

Justin had meanwhile come over to Smith's bed as well. " What the hell? Is he dead?"

Harry poked the boy in question, multiple times. As a result the boy grumbled and turned over. " Nope, he's alive alright."

" Justin, has anyone ever done this before?" asked Ernie to the brown haired boy.

" No one, not even my father. He's the first alright."

" If he can sleep through this, what will wake him up?" muttered wayne.

" Gentlemen, I dare say its time to find out. Don't you think?" said Harry with a widening smile.

No vocal answer was needed, the smirks appearing on the other's faces were more than convincing enough.

"You know Justin, at first I wanted you to get rid of that blasted thing as fast as possible. " said Ernie while he put some eggs on his plate.

" Did you now?" said Justin with mirth.

" Yeah I did as well, but now I see its not as bad as I first made it out to be." continued Wayne.

" Children, they don't say ' the last one up is on whom the water will drop' for nothing." Said Harry trying to keep a straight face. He failed miserably and joined the rest in their laughter.

" Scoot over Ernie, we want in on the joke!" came a new voice. Harry looked up and saw a red head that had her hair in a plait and on her arm was a blond girl with pig tails. The redhead looked really familiar, now if he only could remember.

" Ah Susan, Hannah! Sure no problem, take a seat. Justin could you scoot a bit? Thanks." said the somewhat pompous boy.

" Well I suppose I have to introduce you two!" continued Earnie "This here on my right is Susan Bones and next to her is Hannah Abbott." Suddenly it clicked, Bones! Of course, family of his Father's boss! The resemblance was definitely there, how could he not have noticed?

"Now Hannah, next to you is Justin Flinch Fletchley. Across from him is Wayne, who I think you already know. The black haired guy next to Wayne is Harry Potter and thats about it."

"Nice to meet you, Justin, Harry!" Said Hannah jovially.

" I think you forgot someone Earnie. where's Zach?" asked Susan.

" Oh we didn't forget him, anything but, right guys?" answered Earnie happily.

" I think we gave him too much attention, if anything." said Wayne with a grin.

" Why isn't he with you guys than?" asked Hannah.

" Well, you see..." and so Justin started the story, with all of them adding their own comments to it.

It was in this comfortable atmosphere that they went to their first class, whilst being joined by the rest of their year. Zacharias still in a foul mood, arguing with a girl whose blonde hair fell down in waves. She was rather short and she had dark bleu eyes. Her name was Megan Jones and they'd been doing that since they'd entered the great hall, having gotten lost but neither willing to back down. Zacharias started losing though when this morning's water spectacle was mentioned. Leaving him miffed while Megan looked rather victorious. They got to Transfiguration without too much trouble, the fat Friar having helped them a bit. They had it with the Ravenclaws, who were already there when they found the class room .

As he had heard from his family, Professor McGonnagal was not a woman to cross. He had know that Transfiguration was one of the harder classes, but to take such detailed notes on the process of turning a match into a needle was something new to Harry. Finally when the notes were done they got to try it. The process was a lot harder than he'd thought, half an hour and no progress whatsoever. Sally, who sat next to him, was also having trouble with it. _' Imagining and carving a dragon is so much easier than this.. Wait a moment... Imagination!' _ Harry could just about as well hit himself. Magic was driven by power of will, thus only waving your wand around and saying the incantation wouldn't get it done! Charles ' tutors had said that over and over! He needed to want it to happen! Imagine, visualize the whole process of the change! Just like he did with his art pieces! He tried it and suddenly the match was slightly shiny. He smiled, by the end of class he'd have it!

Sally's whisper of "Wow." marked the creation of Harry's perfect needle. It was 5 minutes before the end of class, and he'd gotten it done! Not even the Ravenclaws had gotten a perfect needle, although two were close. Proffessor McGonagall seemed surprised, but pleased and awarded him a full 10 points.

Their next class was a block of History, once again with the Ravenclaws. It was whilst they were walking towards room 72, which was located on the third floor, that he got asked about his accomplishment.

" H-how'd y-you do it Harry?" asked Sally.

" Yes, I'm quite curious about that as well." came another girl's voice. It was Padma, the girl he'd tried to befriend on the boat trip.

" Well, its rather simple: Imagination." answered Harry happily.

" Imagination? What are you playing at? You got tutored thats all. " scoffed Smith.

" I'm Playing at nothing, Zacharias nor did I get tutored." countered Harry with a frown.

" Thats impossible, I heard your sister got tutors, read that in the Prophet! So you must have had them too!" argued the blonde.

" My sister, yeah. Charles? Definitely. Me? Nope, I got sent to St. Peterson's if you must know. But anyway, back to the question at hand. Think for a moment, what is the definition of Magic?"

" What does that have to do with anything? Although, I am rather interested in what that definition is." said one of the Ravenclaw boys.

" How do you know the definition if you went to this ' St. Peterson's' '? said Earnie with a suspicious look.

" I might have read it, of course accidentally, in a book that lay open on the table and its not like they put silencing charms on the door." replied the lightning-scarred boy with a smile.

" Enough about that, what does it have to do with Imagination?" asked a curios Hannah.

" Pretty much everything! So who's willing to tell me the definition, Wayne?"

" No clue. I never heard it, went to muggle school even if my mother is a witch. She wanted me to have that side of education as well."

" Alright, Hannah do you know?" asked Harry.

" No, Susan might though." replied the pigtailed girl.

" Well it think it was defined as : 'a constant flow of ever present energy.' right?" said the plait wearing girl.

" Its not wrong , but theres something missing. Just wondering, are we even going the right way?" asked the bespectacled boy.

" Of course we are." declared Megan.

" Says the person who made me miss most of my breakfast." muttered Smith.

" I heard that! Besides it was you who said to go right at that second split!" countered the blonde girl."

" P-please d-don't fight. " came Sally's soft voice.

" Yeah grow up you two, it happened this morning. Sheesh!" agreed a black haired hufflepuff girl with a nod.

" We are going the right way, we just passed class number 60." stated Padma.

" Ha, I was right. Take that Smith!" said Megan with a smirk.

The blonde boy in question just huffed and muttered angrily to himself.

" I still want to know what you mean Harry." said Earnie.

" Anybody want to add to Susan's definition?" asked the youngest potter. " No? Well let me put it this way than. Magic isn't only just waving your wand and saying the incantation is it?"

" Of course not!" said another raven claw boy. " The Magic we perform is a complex process of it weaving to a certain result, a spell or jinx for example. This weaving effect, the spell, can only be explained by a complex arithmic function and a runic scheme, if not a combination of the two! The incantation and the wand movement are usually based off, if not a direct translation of these formulas! So no, its not simply waving your wand around and saying it out loud! If it were that simple many accidents wouldn't have happened."

Everybody had stopped moving and was looking at the boy in wonder. The boy looked triumphantly at Harry.

"Umm, thats.. thats something I can't deny. It's however not what I meant, even if it is directly related to it. What you brought up about the accidents happening, its the same reason as for why many of your match sticks didn't change."

" You mean you understood what he said?" asked Justin in awe.

" The gist of it. What he pointed out, in a most elaborate manner, is that if you don't do things right, magic will do what it wants, not what you want."

Padma gasped: " Of course! It's an intent based, if not somewhat sentient form of energy!"

" That's right." said Harry with a nod.

" Oh, I get it!" exclaimed Earnie.

" Well, I don't. So could you than please explain to me and Sally ooks like she could use the explanation as well. " pointed out the other hufflepuff girl.

" What it has to with Imagination, or force if will if you want to call it that, is that Magic needs to be told what to do, not only by the incantation and the wand movement, but also by your mind. For example with the transfiguration of the match, you have to want it to change, maybe even go as far as to completely visualize the process of the change. You have to show the magic your intent, and the magic will most likely follow it. Am I right Potter?" said a black haired ravenclaw boy.

" One hundred percent. You all get it now?"

Nods and sounds of agreement followed.

" Thats good and all, but i think we need to turn around." said Susan.

" Why?" asked Megan.

"Because we walked past room 72 and class starts in a minute." said the redhead.

And indeed they had walked past it. They all ran back down the hallway, and burst into the class expecting to find a teacher, all they found however was one smug Zacharias smith.

"Finally found it have you?" said the blonde haugtilly.

They all took seat, everyone except Megan ignoring Zach's barb.

History of Magic turned out to be one of the most boring classes Harry had ever taken. The droning tone in which Proffessor Binns spoke was anything but motivation for paying attention. So it was in this class that Harry got to know some of his classmate. From Ravenclaw he got to know Terry Boot, the boy who sat behind him and next to Terry sat Michel Corner, the boy who had given the last answer. Padma also joined their conversation, pulling alongside her Lisa Turpin. Padma was a quite talkative, though serious girl. Lisa on the on the other hand was quite, but she made killer comments that cracked him up. Terry was a very nice and straightforward fellow and Micheal was an odd guy who knew a bit too much, but nice nonetheless. While the four of them talked in the middle of the room Anthony Goldstein, the one who had given the long explanation, was in conversation with Earnie. In the left corner the duo of Kevin Entwhistle and Stephen Cornfoot, the other ravenclaw boys, were having a doodle war with Wayne and Justin. Harry watched with a smile as on the first row the shy Sally-Anne talked happily to the other hufflepuff girl, whose name was Leanne Hall, and an asian Ravenclaw who went by the name of Seu Li. That was good, friends were exactly what would help her get out of her shell.

An hour and a half later and the bell tolled. They all happily went to get some lunch. They ate with soft conversation even Zach joined in, having ditched his foul mood. After their appetites had been taken care of, it was time to go to the next block, Herbology. It would be the first class they would not have with the Ravenclaws, instead it would be with the Gryffindors. It was back to the South tower, however instead of in room 99, in which they had Transfiguration it would be in class 102. Harry was looking forward to it, it being about nature. On top of that it would be with his Head of house! That good mood left him as soon as they arrived.

" Well Harry, how has your first day been so far, better than St. Peterson's I expect." came a drawling voice. Harry stiffened, he'd forgotten about that, his brother was in Gryffindor.

Indeed there waiting stood Charles Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived, in all his elven year old glory.

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><p><strong>AN: I hope you all enjoyed it! I'm not entirely sure what to think about the chapter, I have so many ideas, so tell me what you guys think!<strong>

**Next time: He made some tentative contact with his peers, but what will happen now that the Twins meet for the first time? Also just what kind of school is St. Peterson's? ( to Reader AZ: Daniel will make an apearance) **

**- S.K.**


	6. Ch 5 Of Memories and Maybes

**AN: Again sorry for the long delay, but this chapter had to come out right and i have a feeling it did! So I say: Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter I'd be woman, and I assure you, I am not a woman. **

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><p>Of Memories and Maybes<p>

"Well Harry, how has your first day been so far, better than St. Peterson's I expect." drawled Charles as he stood in front of the door that led into room 102. The tone was one of Mockery, the one that was always used by Charles when he directed a rare comment at Harry. The subject this one simple phrase breached brought his mood down Nicolas Potter had no right to speak of that, none whatsoever.

So, of course, Harry could not stop a frown from marring his previously smiling face. In that instant, he almost spoke in a way he had not in years, but he knew that if he bit to this bait Charles would've won, and that was just unacceptable. It was a game of old they played here, except it had long ago lost its friendly vibe. Besides if there was anything that Charles Nicolas Potter could not stand then it was being ignored, it had always been that way.

So Harry Potter carried on the conversation that he'd been having like his arrogant twin had never disturbed it, as if he weren't in front of him at all. _'A taste of his own Medicine_' and a very satisfactory smile took place of the frown.

They now stood in front of the haggle of Gryffindors, who were looking on in interest as to what Harry would answer.

"So Sally, you any good with plants?"Asked Harry, very well aware that Charles could hear him.

"H-Harry I-I think Charles wants to..talk to you." whispered Sally, looking at the now slightly frowning Boy- Who -Lived.

"Well he can wait; this is a much more interesting conversation "whispered Harry back. He wasn't even lying; these conversations were loads of fun. " So you any good?"

She nodded " Y-yes m-my mother owns a flower shop!" she smiled a smile, one filled with pride.

" Missing Daniel yet?" Harry almost lost his composure, almost. Charles should not, could not know that name.

"Oh that's nice! Any favorite plants or flowers?" The question had a sharp tone it, but that's all that showed Harry's irritation and anger.

She edged a look at him and then the redhead that was his twin before she answered. "C-chrys-santhemums"

What made that last statement slightly better was that Charles and Neville were both frowning now.

"I don't know about flower, but I do know my favorite tree. It's an Elm." The face of his twin was starting to color, which made Harry smirk. It still worked, like a charm.

Charles practically shouted:" ANSW-" he never got to finish his starting tirade.

"No shouting in the halls, please." came a warm, but slightly stern voice. Everyone turned around to see the plump women with graying hair and a pot containing three flower held in her arm moving towards had brown eyes and a ready smile.

"Sorry about that dears, but the Tap Dancing Tulips were being uncooperative. Hopefully they'll put on a good show. Well dears follow me,let's get started with Herbology!" spoke Professor Sprout as she entered her teaching abode. Charles glared at him one last time before following the cheerful woman muttering all the while with Neville. The Hufflepuffs followed the Gryffindor and took their seats, this time Ernie took a seat next to him.

"I can't believe you did that!"exclaimed Ernie in a whisper as they got out the things they needed such as the book, parchment, quills and ink. Which set Harry on a different train of thought, why did they still use quills? In his own opinion they were a most annoying writing utensils ever invented; the wrist pains he was starting to feel a definite reminder of why they were replaced by pens and pencils, much more practical writing utensils. Not to speak of how his quality of writing had gone down, reading these notes was going to a nightmare. Then there was the whole thing with the parchment, which was expensive as hell, it being made of calf skin and all. Then he wondered why cows weren't extinct with the amount of parchment the wizarding world used, but then he supposed a spell that multiplied was available, making things a lot simpler. But still paper was a much cheaper commodity even if it was more prone to being ripped and thus less lasting… maybe it had something to do with the rate of..

"What?"Asked a slightly confused Harry as the exclamation of his neighbor had finally reached him, disturbing his train of thought.

"Ignore the Boy-Who-Lived!"

"You can do it too you know, it's really not that hard."And fun, but maybe that was his vindictive streak talking.

"No I can't! He's the Boy-Who-Lived!"

"And?" Harry raised an eyebrow.

" He's a hero! A celebrity!" Right he was hailed as next Merlin, god forbid ignoring the prick.

" Be quite dears! Open your book to page 7!" and so they did.

The slight annoyance that had still filled the youngest Potter flowed away as they started to read into _One thousand Magical herbs and Fungi_ by Phylida Spore. He enjoyed reading about them a lot, these flora, especially since they were much more interesting than their muggle counterparts. They were beautiful and useful in their own way, those muggle plants, but they couldn't compare to the magical equivalents, if there were any that was. Magical plants had all these little odd quirks, like the tap-dancing tulips, they, as their name suggested tap-danced, though they were stationary if they were potted. Uproot them and set them free and they would dance, though what the purpose of this was however none could discern, because besides as a source of entertainment they didn't have much use.

Many a herbologist speculated that the flower had become this way because a charm had accidentally hit the flower, and it had adapted to it and so the dancing tulip was born. The most likely culprit would have been an eccentric Dutch wizarding trader whom went by the name of Carolus Clusius, as they had started popping up around the year of 1595, but no-one was sure. For all they knew it could have already started to exist within the Ottoman Empire. The point however was that many different types of Dancing Tulips existed, each one correspondent to a different kind of music genre, The Tap Dancing Tulip had been influenced by Jazz, which was coincidentally Professor Sprouts favorite music as they found out. Seeing the three flowers go all out, each one wanting to get the most applause, as they loved it and flowered a bit brighter. Eventually it was the red one that won, making the Gryffindors crow in joy, to Hufflepuffs disappointment. All in all it was a very fun and intriguing first lesson of Herbology. The Hufflpuff's, eager to finish the day, left the room 102 to go to Defense Against The Dark Arts which was held not held in the room 31, which they had been told, was situated on the second floor. So they left really fast as it was quite a walk from the south tower all the way there, if everything went right they would pass by their History class room. They were out of the room before most of the Gryffindors had even left their seats, which suited Harry more than just fine.

On the way there they talked about how fun the class had been and how nice their head of house was. Sally and Hannah also got some praise because both girls had earned points, meaning Hufflepuff's second bout of points that day, making it a total of 20 points so far. This all made Harry very happy, especially since it seemed no one was going to bring up the confrontation, if it could even be called that, he'd had with his elder brother.

Defense against The Dark arts was to be only subject in which they were paired up with the Slytherins, which Harry found to be a very smart decision.

Suddenly the staircase on which they were lurched and started moving, everyone groaned after the initial shouts of surprise. This made getting to Defense against the Dark Arts somewhat harder; because they were now two floors above their destination, not mention that the hall that was the steps new destination went in the completely wrong direction. Justin put the groups collective thought into a phrase of eloquent speech: " Bugger."

* * *

><p>Fifteen minutes had gone by, and they were still completely and utterly lost, though they thought they were finally going in the right direction, and one floor down to boot. Another split came up and the group once again came to a halt. " I say right." " I say left." Said Zacharias and Megan at the same time. The blondes glared at each other. The rest of them all groaned, again. For this was another part of why it had taken them ten minutes to arrive at the spot they were currently at, the bickering this pair brought about.<p>

" I listened to you this morning Jones, and look where that us!"

"Ha, and who was right about History, huh, Smith."

"Padma Patil, she was the one who got-"

" She just confirmed what I- "

"SHUT UP!" everyone looked at Ernie as he glared most meticulously at the pair.

" I don't care whose right, or whose wrong. I don't care about who was right or wrong this morning neither! All I want is to get to Defense against the Dark Arts, as soon as possible, and with you two bickering like a married couple isn't going to help!" Both looked indignant at that snub and were both about to comment when the rest glared at them as well

The plait wearing girl took over: "Yeah, so lets get along and get there shall we? You guys can continue this discussion another day, tonight for all I care. Just not now! Okay?" they nodded " Good."

" So now that that's solved lets go about this in an orderly fashion. We go the way the majority agrees on. All in favor for going right raise your hands." Megan, Susan, Hannah, Justin, Wayne and Eanie raised said appendages.

" All those in favor of going left raise your hands." Zacharias, Harry, Leanne, and Sally were the ones who did this time.

" The majority voted right so right we shall go."And go they did, it seemed Susan shared more with her aunt than just physical likeliness.

" What I don't understand," spoke up Justin after a few minutes of silence, " Is why there's no map handed out to us first years!" Harry suddenly had to think of the stories of the Marauders his father and Sirius used to speak of and all they told.

" Yeah, it shouldn't be that hard." Agreed Leanne.

" It tests your memory, maybe that's why they don't. To see whose smart and all." voiced Wayne.

"Probably, but at least the teachers are lenient this week, and only this week, but still. Its something." Added Hannah with a shrug.

" Not Snape, if I heard the third years right at lunch. Lost five points, each, even when they explained that peeves had gotten in the way." Lamented Earnie, having calmed down now that they were actually moving.

" That's not too surprising you know, what I heard he's a right foul git, that Snape. Not looking forward to that class. At all." Everyone nodded, agreeing with Wayne's feelings about potions.

" Yeah thank Merlin peeves hasn't-" Smith never finished that statement for another voice interrupted it making them all jump and shaking Harry out of his thoughts about the Mauraders.

" Did someone say my name?" came the somewhat high-pitched voice, that was somehow nasally at the same time and it came from their right.

Everyone looked up in to the right and a few colorful words, courtesy of Megan, were thrown around while Sally moved somewhat behind Harry because there floating was the poltergeist that they had mentioned twice now in their conversation.

" Ooh icklefirsties, wandering about! Huffers to boot, this is going to be a hoot! " Everyone had slowly been edging forward, away from the spectre that would make them even more late than they already were.

" Ah, Ah now don't walk away, were going to have a blast, so don't look so aghast, for there's a game I want to play!" the gleeful tone and the less than reassuring smile made them realize that they wouldn't like the game he wanted to play.

" What do we do?" whispered Susan who was looking at the poltergeist and then for a possible escape route.

Harry was doing much the same, as well as racking his brain for any other options, devising escapes had somewhat become his specialty. Suddenly he had an epiphany, and he had no idea how he came to it, or if it would even work, but he whispered it back nonetheless. " I think I've got an idea, I don't know if it'll work, but it's worth a try."

" Give it shot, now!" hissed Megan, who was quite pale now that he looked at her.

He turned his sight back on to the smirking and slowly advancing spectral being. " So you want to play a game right?" he asked whilst getting the most odd looks form his companions ranging from the " are you absolutely mental" to the " You've doomed us" and even one plain old " Fuck you ".

" Firstie can listen, he deserves some applause!" and the floating little man did clap, except that there wasn't really any sound produced.

" Well I've got a proposition for you, if you would, an idea. "

" Do you now, little puff?" mocked the ghost that wasn't really a ghost.

" I do. You see, we'll play a game with you." Looks of pure loathing were being sent his way now.

" Really?" asked the nasally voice in surprise.

" Yes really, however, it'll be the game I choose." The glares had receded, somewhat.

" How about mine first and then yours, duffer? Offered the geist, a look of interest in his see through eyes. He was getting somewhere, that was always good, but it was the last part that was of importance.

" I say the other way around, you are the one who wants to play with us after all. " _Hook_

The being in front of him really seemed to be thinking about it, and finally nodded to itself, having apparently made a decision. Was he actually going to get a line on the first try?

" Peeves sees this puffler has a point, and peeves agrees. So speak the game peeves will now play. " _Line_

Apparently he was.

" The game, guys, and Peeves, that were going to play is going to be a the timeless classic of tag, and Peeves is it!" '_and sinker!'_ thought Harry as he and the rest of the first year badgers ran off at full speed, the black haired youth pulling along one Mrs. Perks.

"Left!" shouted the short blonde known as Megan.

They were almost at the fourth corner, now in territory they did know, or rather it seemed, Megan did, and even Zacharias, for all of his prior grumbling, followed her every command.

"Right!" they ran down a small staircase of about 7 steps.

"Left!" They never quite got into that corridor.

What met them there was Nasally laughter, Megan shrieks of warning, though probably more in surprise than the former, and a blast of ice cold water. " Tag, you're it! HAHAHAH! Catch me if you can, you huffers!" and the poltergeist zoomed off, still cackling in malicious glee and delight. Where he'd gotten the water from, least of all how he'd beaten them here, were puzzling facts. That could wait, his breath however couldn't. So they stood there a few moments, wet, and puffing from the running.

"Potter, " muttered Megan after a minute or three apparently having caught her breath.

" Yes?"

" I hate tag."

He couldn't help but laugh.

* * *

><p>Twenty-five minutes in total it had taken them, but they had finally reached the Defense against the Dark Arts classroom. Since none of them had known a drying charm they were still soaking.<p>

"A-a-a-b-b-bout t-t-time. W-what t-t-took s-s-so l-long" Stuttered Quirrel, while in the background the snickers of the Slytherins could be heard.

" We met Peeves on our way here, professor." Explained Hannah.

" A-ah I- I s-see. T-t-take a- s-seat." He looked just about ill at the thought of meeting Peeves.

" Professor, could you please, before we do so, dry our robes?" asked Megan, who had made it point in case to let them know on the ten minute trek to the room that she was very displeased with her current state of being. Not to say that Harry, or any of the other first year hufflepuffs enjoyed their wet robes, but none had been as displeased about it as her, except for maybe Zacharius. Though it should be mentioned that hadn't complained as loudly, but his mutterings and dark looks were more than clue enough as to how he felt about it, but then having water dumped on to you twice in one day wasn't exactly happy making material. It appeared that the young Smith blamed him for this wet experience as well, though if he were fair he_ had_ been the one to organize the one this morning.

Even if the rest of the class was practically a joke, most of what the teacher said being unintelligible and for Harry headache inducing, due to Quirrels extreme and not to mention consistant stuttering, the man did know his charms, drying all the hufflepuff's drenched robes.

This particular class hour he sat next to Megan, as apparently it was either that or letting her sit next to Smith, which seemed a bad idea, as Susan readily agreed sitting herself next to the previously mentioned blonde boy, plus that their current foul moods definitely didn't make it the right time to try it out. He hoped that in the foreseeable future they could at least get along without making it a shouting match, though the chance of this happening looked particularly slim at the moment.

She immediately let him know that she was still quite miffed with him, even if he was "slightly better than that stuck up ponce." Besides that the communication between them was rather sparing; being made up of the glares she sent his way and the comment of " Will you be quite, I want to at least scavenge something from what's left if this first lesson!" making it quite apparent that she was in no mood at all for small talk.

So since conversation was out, and trying to listen to the man that taught this class wasn't very informative, he decided to follow Wayne's example who was doodling in class for the second time that day. When the bell rang he'd filled his page with drawings while his neighbor had filled her page with sporadic notes, he felt that his time had been spent better, it had been an introductory class anyway.

They all exited room 31 all eager to fill their stomachs with the positively godly food that the great hall served and having run away from Peeves, from the third floor to the second definitely made that a very nice prospect. A less nice prospect, as was soon noticeable, was that they had to trudge this journey alongside the Slytherins. The Slytherins being whom they were had to make a cracking comment about the fact that they were spectacularly late.

" Hey Malfoy, any idea why they were so damn late?" asked a boy with brown eyes and black hair that reached his shoulders.

The now appointed Malfoy, whom had grey eyes and slicked blonde hair answered in drawling voice: " Well they had to take the purple out of his hair sometime Nott." while nodding in Harry's direction.

" Ah true, purple hair is a bit rebellious for Hufflepuff." Agreed Nott with a smirk.

As far as Harry was concerned the barb could be let go, the purple hair was nothing and it was a pathetic attempt at riling up. Megan was apparently in a very bad mood, or just that easy to rile up, he currently couldn't decide, didn't see it for the invitation it was and spoke back. A novice mistake, one he'd learned not to make for that's exactly what they wanted.

" Hufflepuffs can be rebellious, Nott!" snapped the blonde hufflepuff girl.

" Apparently, getting that late into class! What rebels!"

" And drenched no less, wetting the floors! Oh Dear!" and the pug-nosed girl giggled at her own crack.

He looked around and saw that everyone was by now blushing and or glowering at the offending preteens. Not at all trying to put a stop to Megan who was about to tell them about their meeting with the poltergeist, in detail, a very bad idea because that was giving them more ammo. Which was the exact opposite of what they wanted.

He sighed and reluctantly intervened. " Ah, but at least we got to smell less like garlic." It had hung heavily in the air that particular smell, the whole class long.

That took them by surprise, surprised by the fact that he understood the game. Oh if only they knew.

Malfoy went for an old classic. " So, he can speak."

" More than I can say for your two grand companions." the two big set boys stopped guffawing sending him promises of death with their eyes. He didn't take a step back as the rest of his companions did; he'd dealt with worse.

" As that may be, Potter, do keep in mind that they have.. other talents." The veiled threat, he had to give to the blonde ponce, for an eleven year old it was well done. Sadly for the Malfoy, he'd seen better.

" Probably, but I don't think they apply in front of the Great hall. " Using your surroundings, something that had to become natural to him as well, for they had reached their destination.

Nott took the parting shot, for he had taken the starting shot, as was the custom. " Maybe not Potter, but then neither do yours, if you have any that is. You were after all not known of before the sorting. "

Harry's eyes narrowed as the slytherins moved towards their strung a cord all right. '_Well played.'_

They all took seat at the table and as soon as he sat down people talked.

" How could you let them get away with that!" fumed Megan

" Yeah, especially that last one!" spoke up Wayne

" Because if you," He glared at Megan, " hadn't bit to the damn bait he would have maybe shut up!"

" Maybe," agreed Susan " but they were being so utterly infuriating, taking a jab at our house!"

" Yeah got to protect house honor." Added Earnie

" How important that maybe, telling them about the incident with Peeves is about as bad as you can go about it! I understand if you want to defend our honor and shut them up, really that's all good and well and I want that too, but next time please think before you talk!" defended Harry

" Well sorry if I had a bit of a short fuse because I was wet, because of somebodies little game!" grumbled the blonde girl.

" Yeah did you want us to just stay quite about it when they said that?" muttered Smith.

" Yes." Said Harry unabashedly "I ain't saying it's bad, just that next time they are trying to rile us up you don't rise up to the challenge. Keeping quite should eventually bore them and they won't bother us. "

" I-I-I agree with H-harry." added Sally whilst looking down at her plate.

" I do too," said Hannah," it's just that I wanted to show them whose boss!"

" I find it quite hypocritical that we can't talk back, but you can!" complained Zach.

" That's because I know how to deal with them without blowing up in fit of anger. " pointed out the black-haired youth.

" Can't deny that, the comment about the two gorrila's was priceless!" said Wayne

" Also thanks about the situation with Peeves ," spoke the redheaded girl, " I had no idea what we could do to get away. "

" No problem, though next time I'll see what I can do about the waterworks." Everyone chuckled.

" Yeah, you should know all about _that_. " Zach gave him a pointed look, Harry grinned.

" That was actually Wayne's idea you know."

" Hey, unintentionally!"

" Unintentionally?" Smith's statement was laced with disbelief.

" Yeah."

"Bullshit."

* * *

><p>And so they delved into that argument and eventually other topics of conversation came about until the diner was over.<p>

A short walk and they were back in the commons where they all grabbed their books and read what the texts they had gotten assigned.

Soon enough they lay in their beds and the five boys talked about their first day, but sleep was a wanting mistress and one by one they fell to her charms. One Harry Potter though didn't, for he was far away with his thoughts, going down memory lane. Thoughts that had once again breached the surface because of Nott's and Charles' comments.

The year of 1986:

Harry Potter, deeply fowning, stepped out of the bus and looked at the grey building that loomed ahead of him as the other students that were on his bus passed him by. He looked around; at the cars that were being driven, the parents holding their children's' hands. He closed his eyes took a deep breath, shouldered his bag and walked on resolutely.

He wasn't jealous. He would be fine, he'd make friends,he didn't need his brother. Yes, he'd be fine.

As he walked on he looked at the ripped paper that was in his hand, the one he'd looked at while he'd rode the bus. The one the he hoped was an illusion and that the old man he'd sat next to would turn into one of his parents. When that didn't happen he'd glared at it like that would make it spontaneously combust, it didn't. Not then and not now, it stayed exactly as it was relaying the message he knew now by heart.

_Harry,_

_Emergency calls at work so sorry we can't take you to your new school. Take bus 38 and your stop is St. Petersons and you should be fine. Your class is 3C in room 5_

_Love, Mom and Dad_

He crumpled the message when it still refused to combust. So _convenient_ those 'Emergency calls'. He threw the paper on the ground and for good measure stomped on it three times, he felt slightly better.

He passed the gates, which had black sharp spikes at the top preventing anyone unwanted from getting in once they were closed. The school, St. Peterson was made up one big, rectangular building. It was grey (the drab, morbid kind) flat surfaced and plain. The only thing that stood out was the giant emblem of a shield with two axes, which was engraved proudly above the main entrance of the building. As Harry walked towards the big wooden doors that were the entrance he notice kids of many ages walking towards the building, showing that St. Peterson was an institute that gave children an education all the way from lower-school to high-school. All in all St. Peterson didn't give of a very child-friendly vibe, at least as far as the exterior was concerned, Harry though trudged along, slowly, but nonetheless he moved on, not once stopping to stare at the intimidating sight as many did, after all he was Potter.

Finally he entered his new school and found that the interior was somewhat warmer, the light brown color of the wooden doors that were dotted in the corridor gave of a sense of familiarity, for this kind of wood was often used in the area. The Softly glowing lamps from the ceiling illuminated it making the wood seem more vibrant and alive than it really was. Harry weaved through the sea of people; looking at each door until midway down the hallway he found classroom 5. He entered the room and looked around, trying to see if he saw a familiar face. It was not to be; he saw not one of his former schoolmates. He moved to the last row, since that was the least crowded. He claimed the middle desk, and from there he watched the proceedings of his soon would be classmates.

Some of the children his age were crying, not wanting their parents to leave them in this strange building in which they had only been a certain amount of minutes whilst others apparently already knew each other and were having conversations of their own. Finally it seemed class really needed to start and the parents that had stayed behind until now left the room, all saying soft good byes to each their own child. It was during all this that a big boy, with spikey black hair came over to Harry's desk and unabashedly stated: " That's my desk, move it."

Harry, already in a foul mood for various reasons stoutly answered a " No. It's mine."

" I'm Timothy Cox. " Spoke the boy again, in the same haughty tone, as if the name meant something. To Harry Potter it currently didn't, through in time to come it would.

" And I'm Harry Potter, nice to meet you." The sarcasm was practically dripping off the words.

" Potter? As in from number 30? What are you doing here?" sniped the spikey haired kid.

" I don't know, maybe school?" The boy was turning a color of puce, the one he'd seen Uncle Vernon turn that one time. Harry snickered.

Though before the boy could open his mouth to return a scathing comment the teachers voice intervened " Everyone take a seat!" the way she was looking at both of them it told them to stuff it.

The boy wisely did, and took seat down the row though not before saying: " This isn't over!"

The brown haired woman that stood in front of all their desks introduced herself as Mrs. Dally but she insisted they call her Mrs. D. She was young, for a teacher. Brown hair and black eyes that surveyed all within the room, nothing escaping her notice, as a few of his classmates found out. Two hours passed by and Harry decided that he liked the class and the teacher.

She called break and sent them to the courtyard. The courtyard was at the other side of the building. It was quite simple: a few trees here and there, a jungle gym in the middle and and a wall that stood out, a short alleyway behind that which was the place where the Concierge entered the building.

Harry had only spoken to two people besides Timothy, one was a blonde girl by the name of Charlotte. She said her mother was French and was quite proud of it too. The other was Gary, a red-head whose father worked in a small office, in a small town a little bit south of Godrics Hollow. Charlotte was loud and pushy, but Gary, being from the same town, assured harry that she was nice.

They were playing with the marbles that Gary had brought along when Timothy came over to them. In an expectant tone Cox said: " As repayment for earlier: give me your lunch money."

" No." he answered without hesitation.

"No?"

"No."

" Potter, I'll ask one last time: give me your lunch money." The bigger boy cracked his knuckles.

" Not going to happen. " Timothy proceeded to take swings at him, Charlotte and Gary exclaimed their surprise.

Most of them Harry dodged until Timothy also learnt to feint and hit him squarely on the noes.

Harry fell to the ground and groaned, that hit had hurt. He cracked open his right eye and glared at Timothy, who was smirking. Harry's already bad mood spiked, he was going to make the Cox boy regret that.

" How about now Potter? "

" You really want it?" he flinched; his nose hurt more when he spoke.

" Yes."

"Okay," Harry stood up closing the distance between them, moved his left hand to his pocket and took out his wallet making the smirk on the bigger boy grow, and promptly kicked Timothy in the balls. Hard. Gary winced.

The bigger boy fell to the ground with a whimper and lay there, tears streaming down his face as he rolled from side to side. The satisfaction he felt was even greater than when he had stomped on the message his parents has left him.

He couldn't help but smile, until that smile was wiped off his face by a voice " What is the meaning of this?"

He turned around and there stood Mrs. D, black eyes glaring at him accusingly. He looked down at the ground, all satisfaction leaving him. He knew that look; it was the same one that his mother used.

He peeked through his fringe "Well?" Her hands were on his hips now, an expectant look on her face. Exactly like his mother.

He was about to open his mouth when Gary told the tale, Charlotte nodding along.

In the end they still both got detention, much to Timothy's outrage. Harry thought that worth it, just to see Timothy having to Sweep the Courtyard as well.

" I expect you two to behave yourselves now. I do not want to see this again, got it?"

" Yes, Mrs. D" they chorused, Timothy glaring at her.

"Good. I'll see you two after school." She left, a last lingering glare on the both of them.

As soon as she was out of sight the Cox boy growled: " You'll regret this."

He scoffed. " Sure I will.' He would.

The rest of the school day went of without a hitch and Harry's mood cleared somewhat. The detention was doable, and hearing Timothy grumble was music to his ears. He came home relatively happy, only to find another note.

The next day the morning passed, they had to attend a school wide assembly but he talked and joked with Charlotte and Gary through most of it. He smiled; he was making friends without Charles!

That break once again the spikey haired youth interrupted their game of marbles.

This time he spoke differently though, with an unsure and sincere voice: " Hey Harry, sorry about yesterday. My brother told me to bring you to him so that he too could apologize for me. Is that ok?"

Harry looked at him shrewdly, but he never noticed the shine in the boys grey eyes. " Sure!"

" You guys have got to wait here though, my brother has a secret hideout that he doesn't want everyone to know about. Ok?" The other two children nodded, though a look passed between them, one that Harry was familiar with. It was a look that said they would do just the opposite.

He followed Timothy and they eventually came to behind the wall, where he saw a group of older kids smoking in a small circle.

" Daniel, I'm here!" announced the younger Cox. The group broke apart, letting them in. Harry never noticed that it closed off behind him. He was too focused on the person that was infront of him.

A blonde boy, buff, towered over him and with bleu eyes looked at him.

" Welcome, Harry. I'm Daniel Cox and now I'm going to thank you." The voice was rough, probably from the smoking, filled with a tone he couldn't place at the time. It was a tone he was going to be familiar with.

Suddenly, way faster than Timothy could punch; by the scruff of his shirt, he was lifted him of the ground, high off the ground. The teen growled the next words out.

" Listen well Potter. I don't care if you're from number 30 or if you're the prince. In this school I am king! This schoolyard is my kingdom! Do you know why?"

Harry got out a shaky " no".

" Who else has the name Cox?" Who else had the name Cox? Timothy and, and.. His eyes widened as he just realized whom shared their last name.

The principle.

Daniel must have seen the recognition in his eyes.

"That's right, boy, the principle. Now, I'll let you of the hook this time, and only this time. You don't want to anger me do you?"

His voice had left him, so he just nodded.

" That's smart of you. To do that keep this in mind: There are two other people, besides me whom you will listen to at all times! Suzanne Cox" he pointed to tall black haired girl with the same sharp bleu eyes," and Timothy Cox. If I so much as hear you pull a trick like that again the consequences won't be… nice. Understand?"

Harry nodded frantically.

"Do you?" cold bleu eyes bored into his green ones.

" Yes!" he all but squeaked. He was put back onto the ground.

" Good, now go and be a good boy and play with your friends." Harry didn't need any more persuasion, he ran. He arrived breathlessly at the big group of children in which he saw his two friends. The words that were spoken next confused him: " You can't play with us?"

"What?" he asked bewildered.

" You can't play with us. " said the same boy.

Harry looked at Gary and Charlotte, they avoided his eyes, but not before he saw the look in them.

Fear.

They knew. They'd seen.

Anger chased away his own fear.

" Fine!" he spat and ran away to the biggest tree in the courtyard. Sitting behind the large oak he realized something.

He missed Charles.

* * *

><p>Harry's eyes focused back onto the yellow and black cloth that hung over his bed, having succeeded at pushing away the oncoming memories. He didn't want to relive them all. He stood up and walked to the window. The moon was waning, but it was far away from being a crescent yet. As he watched the moon he thought on what a friend was and all it entailed. Who was, could be? Maybe. Yes, Maybe. It was so that he finally fell into the arms of sleep, a smile on his face, dreaming of maybes.<p> 


End file.
